Outcomes among people living with HIV (PLWH) in New York City (NYC) remain suboptimal. To assess the potential role of the city's sexual health clinics (SHCs) in improving HIV outcomes and reducing HIV transmission, we examined HIV care status and its correlates among HIV-positive SHC patients in NYC. Clinic electronic medical records were merged with longitudinal NYC HIV surveillance data to identify HIV-positive patients and derive their retrospective and prospective HIV care status. Evidence of HIV care and viral load suppression (VLS) after clinic visit were considered outcomes. Logistic regression models were used to assess their correlates. A third of the 1045 PLWH who visited NYC SHCs in 2012 were out of HIV care (OOC) in the 12 months preceding the clinic visit, and were less likely than those previously in HIV care (IC) to have subsequent evidence of HIV care (42% vs. 72%) or VLS in the 12 months after the visit (39% vs. 76%). VLS was particularly low among patients diagnosed with ≥2 sexually transmitted infections (46%). The odds of VLS were lowest among those OOC before the clinic visit [versus those IC, adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.21, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.16-0.29], non-Hispanic blacks (versus non-Hispanic whites, aOR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.37-0.90), and residents of high-poverty neighborhoods (>30% vs. <10%, aOR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.29-0.89). Our findings suggest that SHCs could serve as an intervention point to (re-)link PLWH to HIV care. Real-time provider alerts about patients' OOC status could help achieve that goal.
Keywords: HIV care continuum; implementation science; linkage to HIV care; sexual health clinic; viral load suppression.