How long do physicians wait to start antiretroviral treatment in newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients?

OBJECTIVE

With the aim to look for possible ways to reduce individual time from HIV diagnosis to low viraemia and reduced infectivity, we measured time between HIV diagnosis and treatment initiation in a large prospective cohort.

METHODS

We selected patients initiating care from 2005 to 2010 in 8 French clinical cohorts. Median time from HIV diagnosis to treatment initiation was estimated by log rank, and baseline characteristics related with this duration were analyzed using a multivariate Cox model.

RESULTS

Median time from HIV diagnosis to treatment initiation was 8 months in 3,422 patients enrolled in this study and 15 in 215 patients with no straightaway indication. The clinical center in which patients seek care, year of diagnosis, and route of infection were associated with time to treatment initiation.

CONCLUSION

Only 6.2% of the population presented to care with no treatment indication. The median time between diagnosis and treatment initiation was 15 months in this population, and this time period was notably growing shorter each year.