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. 2024 Jan 1;95(1):1-5.
doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003310.

Time to Treatment Initiation and HIV Viral Suppression in People Diagnosed With HIV-1 During COVID-19 Pandemic in Ex-Aquitaine, France (ANRS CO3 AQUIVIH-NA Cohort-QuAliCOV Study)

Jihane Ben Farhat  1   2 , Mojgan Hessamfar  2   3   4 , Sophie Farbos  5 , Arnaud Desclaux  6 , Gilles Dumondin  7 , Hélène Ferrand  8 , Carine Greib  9 , Bernard Castan  10 , Patrick Rispal  11 , Pierre Duffau  4   12 , Olivier Leleux  13 , Adélaïde Perrier  13 , Linda Wittkop  13   14   15 , Fabrice Bonnet  2   4   13 , Diana Barger  2
Affiliations

Time to Treatment Initiation and HIV Viral Suppression in People Diagnosed With HIV-1 During COVID-19 Pandemic in Ex-Aquitaine, France (ANRS CO3 AQUIVIH-NA Cohort-QuAliCOV Study)

Jihane Ben Farhat et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on initiation and effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in people diagnosed with HIV remains unclear. We evaluated critical delays in HIV care in people diagnosed before and during the pandemic in ex-Aquitaine, France.

Methods: We considered adults diagnosed with HIV-1 in 2018-2021 and enrolled in the ANRS CO3 AQUIVIH-NA and followed them until October 10, 2022 for those diagnosed during the pandemic (April 01, 2020-December 31, 2021) and until March 31, 2020 for historical controls. We compared their characteristics at inclusion and the median time between diagnosis and ART initiation, ART initiation and viral suppression, and diagnosis and virologic, suppression (effective management).

Results: Eighty-three individuals were diagnosed during the pandemic versus 188 during the prepandemic period. Median follow-up was 549 (interquartile range: 329-713) days. Populations were similar in sex, age, HIV acquisition mode, hospital type, and clinical characteristics at diagnosis; however, fewer were foreign-born during the pandemic (15.7% versus 33.5%, P = 0.003). The probability of ART initiation, therapeutic success, and effective management was higher in people living with HIV (PLWH) diagnosed during the pandemic in adjusted analyses (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.5 to 2.7; HR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2 to 2.3; HR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3 to 2.6, respectively). Those diagnosed during the pandemic were 2.3 (95% CI: 1.2 to 4.1) times more likely to be virologically suppressed within six months of diagnosis compared with historical controls.

Conclusions: Pandemic-related reorganizations may have resulted in newly diagnosed PLWH being prioritized; however, the lower proportion of foreign-born PLWH diagnosed during the pandemic period, likely because of reduced migration and potential delays in diagnosis, may contribute to these preliminary findings.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in relation to this manuscript. S.F. has received financial support from Gilead Sciences, MSD and ViiV Healthcare to attend scientific conferences. D.B. has received speaking fees from Gilead Healthcare, MSD, ViiV Healthcare and outside the submitted work.

References

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