How Best to Measure Retention in HIV Care?

Three proposed metrics provided consistent results, showing that about 75% of a national sample of HIV-infected outpatients were engaged in care.

Clinicians generally know instinctively if a patient is engaged in care, but a precise method for measuring retention in care at the population level has been elusive. Proposed options have included quantitating gaps in care, measuring visit consistency, or combining both into a single variable, as the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has done.

Researchers recently compared these three measures of retention in care, using a database that comprised more than 17,000 adults attending 12 HIV outpatient facilities around the country (mean age, 37; 72% men). Two thirds of the patients had Medicaid or no insurance at the time of their first outpatient visit.

Overall, 42% of patients never had a >6-month gap between appointments, w…

Reviewing Author

Abigail Zuger, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Abigail Zuger, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

How Best to Measure Retention in HIV Care?

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Reviewing Author