15th Annual Conference of the British HIV Association 1-3 April 2009, Liverpool, UK

HIV-POSITIVE PATIENT RETENTION AT A NORTH LONDON CLINIC: HIGH RATES OF LOSS TO CLINICAL FOLLOW-UP AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN

HIV Med 2009 Apr 1-3; 10(Suppl. 1):17 (abstract no. P9)

P Stamoulos, TJ Barber and C Wood
North Middlesex University Hospital, London, UK

BACKGROUND: Effective HIV care depends on regular follow-up of patients but results from recent studies demonstrate adherence rates which are comparable to sub-Saharan Africa1. We aimed to determine the frequency of patients who are lost to follow up (LFU) from our North London HIV clinic and identify any possible predictive factors.

METHODS: Adult patients seen 01/01/1996–31/12/2008 were retrospectively audited to ascertain those who had not attended for >6 months. These were matched against a national register of HIV-positive patients receiving care in the UK to determine those receiving care at another UK HIV centre and those with no further UK follow-up (LFU). Deceased patients were excluded. We analyzed the demographic characteristics of LFU patients and reviewed their records in order to identify any precipitating reasons for their decision.

RESULTS: Of 1783 patients registered at our clinic, 833 had not been seen for >6 months. Of these, 147 (17.6%) had not received care elsewhere in the UK (LFU); 106 (72%) were Black African and 87 (60%) women. In this patient group, 71 (48.9%) had been on antiretroviral drugs and 16 (11.5%) had a CD4 count <200 at their last visit. Twenty-four patients (16%) were pregnant women and only 1 had a HIV viral load <200 copies/mL. Initial data suggests that only 10 (7%) patients had given notice of their intentions to leave the clinic.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms a high rate of LFU in our HIV+ cohort. Another key finding is the high proportion of pregnant women who are LFU which has not been shown in any other UK study to date. Further analysis is planned to better understand this data, to establish the reasons for LFU in this particular group and to engage better with these patients in the future.

Reference:

1. HIV-positive patient retention in the UK: high rate of loss to clinical follow-up among patients from a London clinic. Gerver, Chadborn, Ibrahim, Ribeiro, Vatsa, Delpeche, Easterbrook. Int Conf AIDS. 2008 Aug 3-8;17:Abstract No. TUAB0205.

2009-04-01
P9

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