Strategies to reengage patients lost to follow up in HIV care in high income countries, a scoping review

Abstract

Background Despite remarkable achievements in antiretroviral therapy (ART), losses to follow-up (LTFU) might prevent the long-term success of HIV treatment and might delay the achievement of the 90–90-90 objectives. This scoping review is aimed at the description and analysis of the strategies used in high-income countries to reengage LTFU in HIV care, their implementation and impact. Methods A scoping review was done following Arksey & O′Malley’s methodological framework and recommendations from Joanna Briggs Institute. Peer reviewed articles were searched for in Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science; and grey literature was searched for in Google and other sources of information. Documents were charted according to the information presented on LTFU, the reengagement procedures used in HIV units in high-income countries, published during the last 15 years. In addition, bibliographies of chosen articles were reviewed for additional articles. Results Twenty-eight documents were finally included, over 80% of them published in the United States later than 2015. Database searches, phone calls and/or mail contacts were the most common strategies used to locate and track LTFU, while motivational interviews and strengths-based techniques were used most often during reengagement visits. Outcomes like tracing activities efficacy, rates of reengagement and viral load reduction were reported as outcome measures. Conclusions This review shows a recent and growing trend in developing and implementing patient reengagement strategies in HIV care. However, most of these strategies have been implemented in the United States and little information is available for other high-income countries. The procedures used to trace and contact LTFU are similar across reviewed studies, but their impact and sustainability are widely different depending on the country studied.

Nursing Care on HIV/AIDS-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Nurse’s Perspective in Indonesia

“…That way, HIV/AIDS-positive MSM can have a good support system. Previous studies have shown that good relationships and support from both nurses and peers can improve the quality of life of HIV/AIDS-positive MSM and reduce loss to follow-up rates [ 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

Get2PrEP: An Electronic Medical Record Laboratory Comment Increased Safe Sex Counseling But Not Preexposure Prophylaxis Services at a Large Urban Academic Medical Center in Northern Manhattan

“…Similarly, referral-based models result in higher rates of PrEP-eligible individuals lost to follow-up than same-day start approaches 13,30 . Telephone calls to relay positive STI results also encourage engagement in HIV prevention discussions but do not allow for HIV testing without an in-person visit 31,32 …”

“…13,30 Telephone calls to relay positive STI results also encourage engagement in HIV prevention discussions but do not allow for HIV testing without an in-person visit. 31,32 The ED was the most frequent location for an STI diagnosis, but the competing priorities of ED staff often do not allow time for counseling and/or documentation. 7,33 Provider interventions are most successful when they are timely, and in this case, recommendations were not provided until after a patient had left the ED and results returned.…”

Loss to Follow-Up Risk among HIV Patients on ART in Zimbabwe, 2009–2016: Hierarchical Bayesian Spatio-Temporal Modeling

“…However, it was interesting to detect that the longer the patient was initiated on ART, the lesser the risk of becoming LTFU. Interventions that strengthened reduced LTFU among new patients, such as strengthening electronic databases which show status at all health facilities, integrating services, community-based interventions, and making follow-ups with patients who meet the LTFU criteria, should be prioritized [ 24 ].…”