Major Challenges in Care Transitions for Young Adults with Perinatally Acquired HIV

Many young people with perinatally acquired HIV (YPHIV) face daunting challenges, including loss of family members to HIV, stigma, and the difficulty of living with a chronic disease from birth. Pediatric care often provides coordinated medical and psychosocial support to help YPHIV negotiate these challenges, but fewer adult healthcare settings offer such services. How are YPHIV doing around the time of the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare? Investigators with the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) provide an answer — and it is sobering.

Of 455 YPHIV who were ≥18 years, 124 (27%) had transitioned to adult healthcare. Not surprisingly, individuals who had transitioned to adult healthcare were older than those who had not (26…