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HIV Linkage to Care and Retention in Care Rate Among MSM in Guangzhou, China

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Abstract

Quantifying HIV service provision along the HIV care continuum is increasingly important for monitoring and evaluating HIV interventions. We examined factors associated with linkage and retention in care longitudinally among MSM (n = 1974, 4933 person-years) diagnosed and living in Guangzhou, China, in 2008–2014. We measured longitudinal change of retention in care (≥2 CD4 tests per year) from linkage and antiretroviral therapy initiation (ART). We examined factors associated with linkage using logistic regression and with retention using generalized estimating equations. The rate of linkage to care was 89% in 2014. ART retention rate dropped from 71% (year 1) to 46% (year 2), suggesting that first-year retention measures likely overestimate retention over longer periods. Lower CD4 levels and older age predicted retention in ART care. These data can inform interventions to improve retention about some subgroups.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all staff of Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention for their assistance in the maintenance of the database used in this study. Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences and Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases of The Chinese University of Hong Kong are acknowledged for providing technical support in conducting the research.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by The Project for Key Medicine Discipline Construction of Guangzhou Municipality (Grant Number 2017-2019-07), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the MeSH Consortium (BMGF-OPP1120138), NIH Fogarty International Center Grant, the South China-UNC STD Research Training Center Grant (FIC1D43TW009532-01), SESH R01 Grant (NIAID 1R01AI114310), and Doris Duke International Clinical Research Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Ngai Sze Wong, Weiming Tang, Myron S. Cohen & Joseph D. Tucker

  2. University of North Carolina Project-China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Ngai Sze Wong, Weiming Tang & Joseph D. Tucker

  3. Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Ngai Sze Wong

  4. David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Jessica Mao

  5. Department of AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.1 Qide Road, Jiahe Street, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, 510440, Guangdong, China

    Weibin Cheng & Huifang Xu

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  1. Ngai Sze Wong
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Correspondence to Huifang Xu.

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IRB approval was obtained from the Guangzhou CDC, and the Guangdong Provincial Center for Skin Diseases and STI Control, China, and from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Wong, N.S., Mao, J., Cheng, W. et al. HIV Linkage to Care and Retention in Care Rate Among MSM in Guangzhou, China. AIDS Behav 22, 701–710 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1893-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1893-4

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