Tremendous strides have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); perhaps now the largest barrier to controlling HIV is retaining those diagnosed in care. Data on out-of-care populations are needed to develop effective retention methods, yet obtaining these remains methodologically challenging due to inherent difficulties in sampling. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether individuals identified by two sampling methods commonly used to approximate out-of-care populations were significantly different from a sample of newly identified out-of-care persons. We compared medical records of 345 out-of-care persons identified by a novel population-based health information exchange who had not received CD4 or viral load monitoring in >1 year with: medical records from a randomly selected, time-matched sample of 488 HIV-infected persons with at least one HIV care visit in the past 5 years, and interviews with 382 participants from a time-matched clinic-based convenience sample. Newly identified out-of-care persons were significantly different from both proxies with respect to demographic, clinical, and utilization characteristics, suggesting that samples of in-care proxy persons are inadequate to describe those not engaged in care. Novel approaches to sampling out-of care populations are urgently needed in order to better understand these populations and ways to improve retention and slow the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

PURPOSE:The purpose of this study was to evaluate HIV-related outcomes associated with use of a novel public health information exchange that was designed to identify out of care HIV-infected individuals seen within a large, integrated delivery network (IDN). METHODS:A novel, secure, bidirectional health care delivery-public health information exchange, the Louisiana Public Health Information Exchange (LaPHIE) was developed between a multi-geographical IDN and the Louisiana public health authority in response to the high proportion of out of care HIV-infected persons. The system provides real-time provider alerts when any HIV-infected person who has not had CD4 or HIV viral load (VL) monitoring in >1 year receives non-HIV care within the IDN, allowing immediate linkage to HIV specialty care. Persons identified over the first 30 months of the system's implementation were characterized using a case-cohort approach to compare out-of-care individuals with randomly sampled, time-matched in-care controls. RESULTS:Between 2/1/09 and 7/31/11, 549 alerts identified 419 unduplicated HIV-infected individuals without a CD4 count or VL in >1 year. Patients were identified at 60 clinics and alerts shown to 223 clinicians in 7 participating facilities. A quarter (24%) of those identified had not had a CD4 count or VL conducted since their initial diagnosis. Of the remaining 76% who had been in care previously, over half (55%) had been out of care for ≥18 months, with a median time of 19.4 months [IQR 15.0-32.5] since their previous visit. Following LaPHIE identification, 42% had CD4 counts<200 cells/mm(3) and 62% had VL>10,000 RNA copies/mL. Of the 344 patients with at least 6 months of follow up, 85% had at least one CD4 and/or VL test after being identified. CONCLUSIONS:The results of this study demonstrate that an information exchange can effectively facilitate engagement, re-engagement, and retention of out-of care HIV-infected persons in HIV specialty care. Within two years, we were able to observe significant improvements in HIV-related utilization and disease progression indices. Future programs should consider adopting this innovative strategy to improve HIV care at both the individual and population levels.

Despite an overall decrease in AIDS incidence in Puerto Rico, our studies continue to show high prevalence of HIV risk behaviors among injection drug users (IDUs). This study seeks to evaluate whether the occurrence of injection-related and sex-related HIV risk behaviors among IDUs in Puerto Rico varies with the presence of anxiety symptomatology. Subjects included 557 IDUs, recruited from street settings in poor neighborhoods in Puerto Rico. Symptoms of severe anxiety were reported by 37.1% of the study sample. Participants with severe anxiety symptoms were more likely to share needles, cotton, and rinse water; to pool money to buy drugs; and to engage in backloading, than those without severe anxiety symptoms. Participants with severe anxiety symptomatology were also more likely to practice unprotected vaginal or oral sex. The findings from this study alert HIV prevention and treatment programs to the need to address anxiety disorders within their programs.

OBJECTIVE:We analyzed early sexual activity among Hispanic 14 to 15-year-old adolescents residing in a poor neighborhood in Puerto Rico.METHODS:Information from a sample of 325 adolescents was collected from a randomized sample of community households. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the variables that help explained adolescents' sexual behavior.RESULTS:Adolescents whose parents reported poor communication and poor parent control were more likely to engage in early sexual activity that those peers that did not report this type of family relationship. Adolescents who reported poor parent bonding and lack of discipline were more likely to engage in early sexual relationships.CONCLUSIONS:Intervention and prevention programs need to be aware and address the role of the Hispanic culture in gender differences in early sexual activity in adolescence. If sexual norms related to gender role are changing in Puerto Rico, is a question that needs to be answered in future research.

This paper reports findings on 334 out-of-treatment drug users in Puerto Rico and 617 in New York City, at the 6-month follow-up interview of a Longitudinal Survey. Main outcomes were health care and drug treatment utilization since baseline, assessed by asking participants if they had received physical or mental health services (including HIV medications), and if they had been in methadone maintenance, inpatient or outpatient drug treatment, or drug treatment while incarcerated. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate associations between gender and the various correlates. Logistic regression was used to calculate the contribution of each variable in predicting use of drug treatment. The analysis suggests that women in both sites were likely to suffer from disparities in both health care and drug treatment utilization when compared with men, albeit women in New York utilized more drug treatment resources and were more embedded in the immediate family than their female peers in Puerto Rico. Further research to specify the impact of contextual factors at the organizational and community levels, among members of the same ethnic group residing in different sites, may prove valuable in identifying the health needs and the factors that impede or facilitate drug-using women in obtaining the most appropriate treatment. Findings from these studies can help in developing appropriate public health policy and science-based drug treatment programs to eliminate disparities such as the ones detected in this study.

Throughout the world, injection drug users (IDUs) are the group at highest risk for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. IDUs residing in the island of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican IDUs residing in the U.S. mainland have been shown to be at very high risk of infection with HIV. However, the extent to which HCV infection has spread among IDUs in Puerto Rico is not yet known. The aims of this study were to estimate seroprevalence of HCV and to identify the correlates associated with HCV transmission. The sample was drawn through street outreach strategies and was comprised of 400 injection drug users not in treatment, living in the San Juan metropolitan area. HCV and HIV infection were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the results were confirmed by Western blot. Information on sociodemographics, drug use patterns, and risk behaviors was obtained through structured interviews. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression were used to assess covariates of infection with HCV. The prevalence of HCV infection was 89%. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, HCV infection was positively associated with increasing years of injection, injecting in a shooting gallery, tattooing in prison, and self-reported STD infection. Notably, IDUs who had initiated drug injection within the year prior to the study interview had an HCV infection rate of 57%. This study indicates that more aggressive educational programs are urgently needed to reduce the spread of HCV infection among IDUs in Puerto Rico.

This report examines associations between homelessness and HIV risk behaviors among injection drug users (IDUs) in Puerto Rico. The study sample consisted of 557 IDUs who were not in treatment, recruited in inner-city neighborhoods of the North Metro Health Care Region. Subjects were categorized into three groups by residential status (last 30 days): housed, transitionally housed (living with friends, family, or others but considering themselves homeless), and on-the-street homeless (living on the street or in a shelter). Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to assess effects of residential status on each HIV risk behavior after adjusting for sociodemographic and drug-use related covariates. Transitionally housed and on-the-street homeless subjects made up 16% of the total sample. On-the-street homeless IDUs were more likely to test positive for HIV than were transitionally housed and housed IDUs. In the adjusted analysis, on-the-street homeless subjects were significantly more likely to share needles, share rinse water, and practice back loading than the other two groups. Sexual risk behaviors (last 30 days) were not significantly associated with residential status after adjustment. Findings from this study present an added challenge to drug treatment and HIV prevention and treatment programs, to provide services that can address the additional needs of drug users suffering the stressors of homelessness.

This study examined the effectiveness of a combined counseling and case management behavioral intervention, using motivational interviewing strategies, in engaging Hispanic injection drug users in treatment and reducing drug use and injection-related HIV risk behaviors. Follow up data are presented on 440 (79.0%) of 557 randomized participants, 6 months after the initial interview. Subjects in the experimental arm were significantly less likely to continue drug injection independent of entering drug treatment, and were also more likely to enter drug treatment. Subjects in both arms who entered drug treatment were less likely to continue drug injection. Among subjects who continued drug injection, those in the experimental arm were significantly less likely to share needles. Confirming the outcomes of this study in other Hispanic sites and populations could be a critical step towards reducing factors that contribute to the self-sustaining HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico and communities in the U.S. mainland.

This descriptive paper reports findings from a formative research study on the drug market as a workplace of the outreach worker in Puerto Rico, and outlines strategies used by outreach workers to enable them to work effectively in these sites. Data were collected via outreach worker focus groups and participant observations at drug market sites. A social system theoretical model was used for analyzing data on drug market sites, and results are reported in terms of three basic social system components: structure, culture, and process. The authors recommend utilizing outreach workers as part of prevention and treatment teams in organizations providing services to drug users, as well as other hard-to-reach populations such as street sex workers and the homeless.

This study examined factors associated with drug treatment dropout among injection drug users (IDUs) in Puerto Rico, a group that has contributed significantly to the self-sustaining AIDS epidemic in the island since the mid-1980s. A total of 557 IDUs were recruited from communities in a semirural region of Puerto Rico, as part of a longitudinal study testing the efficacy of a two-facet intervention model, based on motivational interviewing. Of 124 IDUs who had entered drug treatment at follow-up, 33 (26.6%) dropped out before completing all recommended sessions. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age, homelessness, and speedball use were significantly associated with drug treatment dropout. Conversely, participants who received the two-facet intervention were significantly less likely to drop out of drug treatment. Receiving psychiatric services also reduced the odds of treatment dropout. Improving adherence to drug treatment and reducing dropout rates are complex processes that need to be addressed at the individual behavioral and social support levels, as well as the program process and resource levels.