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Current HIV treatment guidelines recommend clinical and laboratory monitoring every 3 months, with intervals up to 6 months in patients with long-term virologic suppression. However, this recommendation is based predominantly on expert opinion. Now, researchers have investigated whether the scheduled follow-up interval is associated with risk for virologic failure.
Data were derived retrospectively from HIV clinics at six U.S. academic medical centers. Eligible patients had a clinic visit in May, June, or July 2008, had viral loads ≤400 copies/mL, and had a follow-up visit scheduled 3, 4, or 6 months later. A total of 2171 participants met these criteria — with follow-up scheduled at 3 months for 66%, 4 months for 26%, and 6 months for 8%. P…