Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the continuum of care in a cohort of people living with HIV followed in a singl
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DS Research and Therapy Open Access
RESEARCH
Consequences of the COVID‑19 pandemic on the continuum of care in a cohort of people living with HIV followed in a single center of Northern Italy Eugenia Quiros‑Roldan1,2, Paola Magro1,2* , Canio Carriero1,2, Annacarla Chiesa1,2, Issa El Hamad2, Elena Tratta3, Raffaella Fazio3, Beatrice Formenti2 and Francesco Castelli1,2
Abstract Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced increasing pressure, where people living with HIV risked to either acquire SARS-CoV-2 and to interrupt the HIV continuum of care. Methods: This is a retrospective, observational study. We compared the numbers of medical visits performed, antiret‑ roviral drugs dispensed and the number of new HIV diagnosis and of hospitalizations in a cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH) followed by the Spedali Civili of Brescia between the bimester of the COVID-19 pandemic peak and the bimester of October–November 2019. Data were retrieved from administrative files and from paper and electronic clinical charts. Categorical variables were described using frequencies and percentages, while continuous variables were described using mean, median, and interquartile range (IQR) values. Means for continuous variables were com‑ pared using Student’s t-tests and the Mann–Whitney test. Proportions for categorical variables were compared using the χ2 test. Results: As of December 31st, 2019, a total of 3875 PLWH were followed in our clinic. Mean age was 51.4 ± 13 years old, where 28% were females and 18.8% non-Italian. Overall, 98.9% were on ART (n = 3834), 93% were viro-sup‑ pressed. A total of 1217 and 1162 patients had their visit scheduled at our out-patient HIV clinic during the two bimesters of 2019 and 2020, respectively. Comparing the two periods, we observed a raise of missed visits from 5 to 8% (p
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