Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan 15;24(1):87.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-023-08967-6.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV: a cross-sectional study in Caracas, Venezuela

David A Forero-Peña  1   2   3 , Fhabián S Carrión-Nessi  4   5 , José L Forero-Peña  6 , Natasha A Camejo-Ávila  6 , Daniela L Mendoza-Millán  6   7 , Óscar D Omaña-Ávila  6   7 , Andrea L Maricuto  6   8 , Viledy L Velásquez  8 , Mario D Mejía-Bernard  6   7 , Carlis M Rodriguez-Saavedra  6 , María V Marcano-Rojas  6 , Yoesmir Contreras  6 , Luis J Guerra  8 , María F Alvarado  8 , Martín Carballo  8 , Jocays Caldera  8 , Rafael N Guevara  8 , María C Redondo  8 , María E Landaeta  8
Affiliations

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV: a cross-sectional study in Caracas, Venezuela

David A Forero-Peña et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted multiple health services, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, care, and treatment services, jeopardizing the achievement of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 90-90-90 global target. While there are limited studies assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Latin America, there are none, to our knowledge, in Venezuela. This study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among PLHIV seen at the outpatient clinic of a reference hospital in Venezuela.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among PLHIV aged 18 years and over seen at the Infectious Diseases Department of the University Hospital of Caracas, Venezuela between March 2021 and February 2022.

Results: A total of 238 PLHIV were included in the study. The median age was 43 (IQR 31-55) years, and the majority were male (68.9%). Most patients (88.2%, n = 210) came for routine check-ups, while 28 (11.3%) were newly diagnosed. The majority of patients (96.1%) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART), but only 67.8% had a viral load test, with almost all (95.6%) being undetectable. Among those who attended regular appointments, 11.9% reported missing at least one medical consultation, and 3.3% reported an interruption in their ART refill. More than half of the patients (55.5%) had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while the rest expressed hesitancy to get vaccinated. Most patients with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were male (65.1%), younger than 44 years (57.5%), employed (47.2%), and had been diagnosed with HIV for less than one year (33%). However, no statistically significant differences were found between vaccinated patients and those with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Older age was a risk factor for missing consultations, while not having an alcoholic habit was identified as a protective factor against missing consultations.

Conclusion: This study found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a limited impact on adherence to medical consultations and interruptions in ART among PLHIV seen at the University Hospital of Caracas, Venezuela.

Keywords: COVID-19; Clinical profile; Epidemiology; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; SARS-CoV-2; Venezuela.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Global HIV. & AIDS statistics — 2022 Fact sheet []. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet
    1. MPPS OO., ONUSIDA: Tratamiento antirretroviral para personas con VIH - Guía práctica: Venezuela. In. Caracas: Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Salud de Venezuela; 2021.
    1. Inzaule SC, Hamers RL, Doherty M, Shafer RW, Bertagnolio S, Rinke de Wit TF. Curbing the rise of HIV drug resistance in low-income and middle-income countries: the role of dolutegravir-containing regimens. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019;19(7):e246–52. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30710-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Page KR, Doocy S, Reyna Ganteaume F, Castro JS, Spiegel P, Beyrer C. Venezuela’s public health crisis: a regional emergency. Lancet. 2019;393(10177):1254–60. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30344-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. PAHO W, UNAIDS GBJOUhtchf.: Plan maestro para El Fortalecimiento De La Respuesta Al VH, La Tuberculosis Y La malaria en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela desde una perspectiva de salud pública.

Substances