[Linkage to care among new human immunodeficiency virus diagnoses in Spain]

Abstract

Objetive: To describe linkage to care among new HIV diagnoses in Spain; and to estimate factors associated to linkage to care within three months after diagnosis.

Methods: The distribution of the time elapsing between the date of HIV diagnosis and the date of first determination of CD4 (considered to be the date of linkage to care) was calculated among new HIV diagnoses in 2010 in the seven Autonomous Regions participating, where data on date of CD4 count was available. Linkage to care was considered «correct» if done within three months after diagnosis. Factors associated to correct linkage to care were estimated using logistic regression.

Results: A total of 1769 new HIV diagnoses were included. Of them, 83.1% had evidence of linkage to care within a year, and 75.7% were linked within three months after diagnosis. Being an injectable drug user (IDU) was the only factor inversely associated with linkage to care within 3 months (OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2-0.6).

Conclusion: In Spain linkage to care after HIV diagnosis is good, but there is still room for improvement, especially among IDUs.

Keywords: España; Human immunodeficiency virus; Inicio de seguimiento; Linkage to care; Spain; Surveillance; Vigilancia epidemiológica; Virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana.