Demonstration Project of Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy in a Diverse Population of People With HIV.

BACKGROUND: Intramuscular cabotegravir (CAB) and rilpivirine (RPV) is the only long-acting antiretroviral therapy (LA-ART) regimen approved for people with HIV (PWH). Long-acting ART holds promise for improving outcomes among populations with barriers to adherence but is only approved for PWH who have virologic suppression with use of oral ART before initiating injectables. OBJECTIVE: To examine LA-ART in a population of PWH that includes those with viremia. DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: Urban academic safety-net HIV clinic. PATIENTS: Publicly insured adults living with HIV with and without viral suppression, high rates of unstable housing, mental illness, and substance use. INTERVENTION: Demonstration project of long-acting injectable CAB-RPV. MEASUREMENTS: Descriptive statistics summarizing cohort outcomes to date, based on pharmacy team logs and electronic medical record data. RESULTS: Between June 2021 and November 2022, 133 PWH at the Ward 86 HIV Clinic were started on LA-ART, 76 of whom had virologic suppression while using oral ART and 57 of whom had viremia. The median age was 46 years (IQR, 25 to 68 years); 117 (88%) were cisgender men, 83 (62%) had non-White race, 56 (42%) were experiencing unstable housing or homelessness, and 45 (34%) had substance use. Among those with virologic suppression, 100% (95% CI, 94% to 100%) maintained suppression. Among PWH with viremia, at a median of 33 days, 54 of 57 had viral suppression, 1 showed the expected 2-log10 reduction in HIV RNA level, and 2 experienced early virologic failure. Overall, 97.5% (CI, 89.1% to 99.8%) were projected to achieve virologic suppression by a median of 33 weeks. The current virologic failure rate of 1.5% in the cohort is similar to that across registrational clinical trials at 48 weeks. LIMITATION: Single-site study. CONCLUSION: This project demonstrates the ability of LA-ART to achieve virologic suppression among PWH, including those with viremia and challenges to adherence. Further data on the ability of LA-ART to achieve viral suppression in people with barriers to adherence are needed. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health, City and County of San Francisco, and Health Resources and Services Administration.

Pragmatic randomized trial of a pre-visit intervention to improve the quality of telemedicine visits for vulnerable patients living with HIV.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has required a shift of many routine primary care visits to telemedicine, potentially widening disparities in care access among vulnerable populations. In a publicly-funded HIV clinic, we aimed to evaluate a pre-visit phone-based planning intervention to address anticipated barriers to telemedicine. METHODS: We conducted a pragmatic randomized controlled trial of patients scheduled for a phone-based HIV primary care visit at the Ward 86 HIV clinic in San Francisco from 15 April to 15 May 2020. Once reached by phone, patients were randomized to either have a structured pre-visit planning intervention to address barriers to an upcoming telemedicine visit versus a standard reminder call. The primary outcome was telemedicine visit attendance. RESULTS: Of 476 scheduled telemedicine visits, 280 patients were reached by a pre-visit call to offer enrollment. Patients were less likely to be reached if virally unsuppressed (odds ratio (OR) 0.11, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.03-0.48), CD4 < 200 (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.07-0.85), or were homeless (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.07-0.87). There was no difference between intervention and control in scheduled visit attendance (83% v. 78%, OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.67-2.81). CONCLUSIONS: A structured phone-based planning call to address barriers to telemedicine in a public HIV clinic was less likely to reach patients with poorly-controlled HIV and patients experiencing homelessness, suggesting additional interventions may be needed in this population to ensure access to telemedicine-based care. Among patients reachable by phone, telemedicine visit attendance was high and not improved with a structured pre-visit intervention, suggesting that standard reminders may be adequate in this population.

Viral suppression rates in a safety-net HIV clinic in San Francisco destabilized during COVID-19.

: The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to hinder US End the HIV Epidemic goals. We evaluated viral suppression and retention-in-care before and after telemedicine was instituted, in response to shelter-in-place mandates, in a large, urban HIV clinic. The odds of viral nonsuppression were 31% higher postshelter-in-place (95% confidence interval = 1.08-1.53) in spite of stable retention-in-care and visit volume, with disproportionate impact on homeless individuals. Measures to counteract the effect of COVID-19 on HIV outcomes are urgently needed.