Institute for Collaborative Health Intervention and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
Infectious Diseases, Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, GA.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2020 Sep 1;85(1):66-72. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002414.
COVID-19 and its social responses threaten the health of people living with HIV. We conducted a rapid-response interview to assess COVID-19 protective behaviors of people living with HIV and the impact of their responses on HIV-related health care.
Men and women living with HIV (N = 162) aged 20-37 years participating in a longitudinal study of HIV treatment and care completed routine study measures and an assessment of COVID-19-related experiences.
At baseline, most participants demonstrated HIV viremia, markers indicative of renal disorders, and biologically confirmed substance use. At follow-up, in the first month of responding to COVID-19, engaging in more social distancing behaviors was related to difficulty accessing food and medications and increased cancelation of health care appointments, both by self and providers. We observed antiretroviral therapy adherence had improved during the initial month of COVID-19 response.
Factors that may pose added risk for COVID-19 severity were prevalent among people living with HIV, and those with greater risk factors did not practice more COVID-19 protective behaviors. Social distancing and other practices intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 interfered with HIV care, and impeded access to food and medications, although an immediate adverse impact on medication adherence was not evident. These results suggest social responses to COVID-19 adversely impacted the health care of people living with HIV, supporting continued monitoring to determine the long-term effects of co-occurring HIV and COVID-19 pandemics.
COVID-19 及其社会应对措施威胁着艾滋病毒感染者的健康。我们进行了一项快速反应访谈，以评估艾滋病毒感染者的 COVID-19 防护行为及其应对措施对与艾滋病毒相关的医疗保健的影响。
年龄在 20-37 岁之间、参与 HIV 治疗和护理纵向研究的艾滋病毒感染者（N=162）完成了常规研究措施和 COVID-19 相关经历评估。
在基线时，大多数参与者表现出 HIV 病毒血症、肾功能障碍标志物和经生物证实的物质使用。在随访中，在应对 COVID-19 的第一个月内，更多的社交距离行为与获取食物和药物的困难以及更多的医疗保健预约取消有关，这些都是自我和提供者取消的。我们观察到在 COVID-19 应对的最初一个月内，抗逆转录病毒治疗的依从性有所提高。
在艾滋病毒感染者中，可能导致 COVID-19 严重程度增加的因素很普遍，而具有更大风险因素的人并没有采取更多的 COVID-19 保护行为。旨在减缓 COVID-19 传播的社交距离和其他做法干扰了艾滋病毒护理，并且妨碍了食物和药物的获取，尽管药物依从性立即受到不利影响并不明显。这些结果表明，对 COVID-19 的社会反应对艾滋病毒感染者的医疗保健产生了不利影响，支持继续监测以确定同时发生的 HIV 和 COVID-19 大流行的长期影响。
