The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to disrupt HIV prevention services. We conducted an electronic health record analysis of PrEP, HIV, and STI visits at eight sexual health clinics in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma during the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020) and compared the data with pre-pandemic (March 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019) volumes. Our data revealed a significant increase in the proportion of male PrEP visits during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, with the majority provided via telehealth/telePrEP. Overall, HIV and STI testing significantly decreased during the pandemic period.
Gender-affirming care is essential to the health and wellbeing of transgender and nonbinary people. The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to disrupt transgender care. This study explores transgender care before and during the onset of the pandemic using patient data from 10 family planning clinics in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. No significant differences were observed in the proportion of transgender care visits pre- or during the pandemic. However, we did find a significantly larger proportion of new transgender patient visits and significantly smaller proportion of established patient visits during the pandemic, with nearly half delivered through telehealth care.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent and young adult chlamydial infection is unknown. Patient testing data were extracted from the electronic health records of 10 family planning clinics. Prepandemic and pandemic comparisons revealed an increase in observed chlamydial infection, with greater positivity among Black/African American female adolescent patients.
Sociodemographics and travel among patients receiving abortion care differed during the pandemic, suggesting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–related restrictions may have negatively affected abortion access, particularly for patients of color.
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