HIV Care Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed-Methods Telephone Interviews with Clinic-Enrolled HIV-Infected
- PDF / 539,567 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 81 Downloads / 177 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
HIV Care Experiences During the COVID‑19 Pandemic: Mixed‑Methods Telephone Interviews with Clinic‑Enrolled HIV‑Infected Adults in Uganda Sebastian Linnemayr1 · Larissa Jennings Mayo‑Wilson2 · Uzaib Saya1 · Zachary Wagner1 · Sarah MacCarthy1 · Stewart Walukaga3 · Susan Nakubulwa3 · Yvonne Karamagi3
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract COVID-19 measures that restrict movement may negatively impact access to HIV care and treatment. To contribute to the currently limited evidence, we used telephone interviews with quantitative and qualitative questions to examine how clients perceived COVID-19 and its effect on their HIV care and ART adherence. One hundred (n = 100) Ugandan adults on ART from an existing study were randomly selected and enrolled. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and rapid content analyses. 76% of clients indicated that COVID-19 negatively impacted travel to HIV clinics; 54% perceived that coming to the clinic increased their risk of acquiring COVID-19; and 14% said that COVID-19 had negatively impacted their ART adherence. Qualitative feedback suggests that fear of COVID-19 infection discouraged clinic attendance while stay-at-home orders helped routinize ART adherence and employ new community-based approaches for HIV care. Addressing negative unintended consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns on HIV care is urgently needed. Keywords HIV · Adherence · Uganda · Antiretroviral treatment · ART · COVID-19 · Pandemic · Mixed methods · Mobile phone · Survey
Introduction Approximately 37.9 million people worldwide are living with HIV [1] and due to existing vulnerabilities, may be at increased risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [2]. To limit the spread of COVID-19, countries have implemented measures to minimize physical contact between individuals [3]. These “lockdown” measures aim for residents to stay indoors and restrict movement [3, 4]. Yet, they can have unintended consequences on HIV services [3, 4], such as deterring * Sebastian Linnemayr [email protected] 1
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA, USA
2
Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health, 1025 E. 7th Street, Bloomington, IN, USA
3
Mildmay Uganda, P.O. Box 24985, Kampala, Uganda
or restricting clinic visits and diagnostic testing, thereby hindering continuation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in people living with HIV (PLWH) [4, 5]. There is also concern that resources allocated to COVID-19 may reduce HIV spending and diminish HIV care [4–6]. As a result, COVID19 measures are potentially likely to negatively impact HIV treatment services, access to treatment, and adherence. In addition, preliminary data suggest that respiratory complications from COVID-19 occur more rapidly in PLWH [7] who also exhibit delayed antibody responses, although more definitive research is
Data Loading...
