A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Immediate Antiretroviral Therapy Among Urban Persons With Newly Diagnosed Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Guidelines recommend immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) at or shortly after human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis, yet little is known about how people living with HIV (PLWH) experience this treatment strategy, including racial/ethnic minorities, cisgender/transgender women, and those with housing instability.

Methods

To assess the acceptability of immediate ART offer among urban PLWH, understand how this approach affects the lived experience of HIV diagnosis, and explore reasons for declining immediate ART, we conducted a cross-sectional qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with individuals who had been offered immediate ART after HIV diagnosis at a safety-net HIV clinic in San Francisco and a federally qualified health center in Chicago.

SUBMITTER: Christopoulos KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8643677 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature