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A Comparative Analysis of Different HIV Viral Load Suppression Definitions Among Clients Receiving Care in the Miami-Dade Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program

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Abstract

The study’s objective was to examine variations in viral load (VL) suppression definitions among clients in the Ryan White Program (RWP). Data from clients enrolled in the RWP during 2017 were examined to calculate the proportion of virally suppressed clients using three definitions: recent viral suppression, defined as having a suppressed VL (< 200 copies/mL) in the last test in 2017; maintained viral suppression, having a suppressed VL for both the first and last tests in 2017; and sustained viral suppression, having all tests in 2017 showing suppression. Relative differences across all three definitions were computed. Recent viral suppression measures were higher than maintained and sustained viral suppression measures by 7.0% and 10.1%, respectively. Significant relative differences in definitions by demographic, socioeconomic and clinical status were observed. It may be beneficial for care planning to report not only estimates of recent viral suppression but maintained and sustained viral suppression as well.

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Abbreviations

ACA:

Affordable Care Act

AC1:

Gwet’s agreement coefficient

AOR:

Adjusted odds ratio

ART:

Antiretroviral therapy

CI:

Confidence interval

FPL:

Federal Poverty Level

IDU:

Injection drug use

MSM:

Male-to-male sexual contact

NHB:

Non-Hispanic Black

NHW:

Non-Hispanic White

NPV:

Negative predictive value

PPV:

Positive predictive value

PWH:

People with HIV

RWP:

Ryan White Program

VL:

Viral load

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Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by awards from the National Institute on Minority Health & Health Disparities of K01MD013770, R01MD013563 and R01MD012421 and in part by F31MD015234 from the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, AHC 5, Room 479, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Semiu O. Gbadamosi, Mary Jo Trepka, Rahel Dawit & Diana M. Sheehan

  2. Research Center in Minority Institutions (RCMI), Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Mary Jo Trepka & Diana M. Sheehan

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Zoran Bursac

  4. Department of Immunology and Nanomedicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Andrea Raymond

  5. Behavioral Science Research Corporation, 2121 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Suite 240, Coral Gables, FL, 33134, USA

    Robert A. Ladner

  6. Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse (CRUSADA), Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Diana M. Sheehan

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  1. Semiu O. Gbadamosi
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  2. Mary Jo Trepka
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  7. Diana M. Sheehan
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Contributions

SOG, MJT, and DS conceptualized and designed the study. SOG analyzed the data. SOG wrote the original draft. MJT, RD, ZB, AR, RAL and DS reviewed the draft for intellectual content, contributed to the interpretation and presentation of the findings. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana M. Sheehan.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no financial interests.

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N/A.

Ethical Approval

The study reported in this manuscript was approved by the Florida International University Institutional Review Board. Permission was required from Miami-Dade County to access the Ryan White Program data used in this study.

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Gbadamosi, S.O., Trepka, M.J., Dawit, R. et al. A Comparative Analysis of Different HIV Viral Load Suppression Definitions Among Clients Receiving Care in the Miami-Dade Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. AIDS Behav 26, 3576–3588 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-022-03694-6

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