Simplified clinical algorithm for immediate antiretroviral therapy initiation: The HATI [HIV awal (early) Test & Treat in Indonesia] implementation research in Indonesia.

Background & objectives: Although the World Health Organization recommends same day or rapid (< seven days) antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, delays in ART initiation remain common due to waiting for laboratory test results. This study employed a simplified clinical algorithm the HATI [HIV Awal (Early) Test & Treat Indonesia]-SAI (Simple ART Initiation) aimed to increase the proportion of ART uptake and decrease the time to ART initiation that can be used in various care settings. Methods: This study compared the percentage of ART uptake and retention, viral load (VL) suppression and time to ART initiation between the observation and intervention phases among newly diagnosed HIV patients from key populations. As part of the intervention, the newly diagnosed patients underwent screening using a simple form [consisting of data on age, height and weight (for body mass index calculation), questions on the presence of symptoms of HIV stages 1 and 2, tuberculosis, history of diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease], to determine eligibility for immediate ART initiation. Those who met the pre-defined criteria immediately received a combination of tenofovir lamivudine and efavirenz for two weeks. The baseline laboratory examination due to this was moved up to two weeks post ART. Factors significantly associated with ART uptake were also determined and their odds ratios were measured using logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 2173 people newly diagnosed with HIV were recruited, with 1579 and 594 in the observation and intervention phases, respectively. In both phases, the majority were men who have sex with men, who were young (<30 yr old) and employed, with high levels of education. The intervention phase significantly increased the proportion of ART initiation [91%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 89-93% vs. 78%, 95% CI: 76-80%] but did not have any impact on the proportion of six months retention and VL suppression. The intervention also significantly decreased the time to ART initiation from median ± interquartile range: 9±20 days to 2±10 days. Interpretation & conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that the HATI-SAI intervention increased the uptake and decreased the time for immediate ART initiation. The HATI-SAI provides a simple and safe clinical approach that can readily be adopted in different settings without a costly investment in technology.

Effectiveness and Organization of Addiction Medicine Training Across the Globe.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, addiction medicine training curricula have been developed to prepare physicians to work with substance use disorder patients. This review paper aimed at (1) summarizing scientific publications that outline the content of addiction medicine curricula and (2) evaluating the evidence for efficacy for training in addiction medicine. METHODS: We carried out a literature search on articles about addiction medicine training initiatives across the world, using PubMed, PsychINFO and EMBASE with the following search terms 'substance abuse, addiction medicine, education and training.' RESULTS: We found 29 articles on addiction medicine curricula at various academic levels. Nine studies reported on the need for addiction medicine training, 9 described addiction medicine curricula at various academic levels, and 11 described efficacy on addiction medicine curricula. CONCLUSIONS: Several key competences in addiction medicine were identified. Efficacy studies show that even short addiction medicine training programs can be effective in improving knowledge, skills and attitudes related to addiction medicine. A more uniform approach to addiction medicine training in terms of content and accreditation is discussed.

Severity of psychiatric and physical problems is associated with lower quality of life in methadone patients in Indonesia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The goal of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is to reduce the harm and to improve patients' quality of life (Qol). However, the Qol is also influenced by other co-occurring disorders. Data regarding the Qol and the co-occurrence of these disorders is lacking in low-middle income countries. We therefore describe the prevalence of physical, psychiatric, and drug abuse co-occurring disorders among MMT patients in Indonesia and determine the association between the severity of the co-occurring disorders and the Qol. METHODS: Data were collected in 112 injection drug abusers (IDUs) attending a MMT program in West Java, Indonesia, using validated questionnaires, medical records and laboratory testing. For comparison, 154 IDUs not enrolled in MMT were recruited by respondent driven sampling. RESULTS: The most frequent co-occurring disorders were hepatitis C (92%), HIV (77%), benzodiazepine abuse (56%), and anxiety disorders (32%). IDUs in MMT had one (26%), two (47%), or three (27%) co-occurring disorders. Higher severity in psychiatric and physical problems was associated with poorer Qol. IDUs not enrolled in MMT had similar co-occurring problems. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of co-occurring disorders in IDUs in Indonesia is high and they influence their Qol. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Therefore, comprehensive treatment, especially focusing on the common co-occurring disorders should be provided in MMT to improve the Qol.

Risk factors for psychiatric symptoms in patients with long COVID: A systematic review.

Prolonged symptoms of COVID-19 have been found in many patients, often known as Long COVID. Psychiatric symptoms are commonly seen in Long COVID patients and could last for weeks, even months, after recovery. However, the symptoms and risk factors associated with it remain unclear. In the current systematic review, we provide an overview of psychiatric symptoms in Long COVID patients and risk factors associated with the development of those symptoms. Articles were systematically searched on SCOPUS, PubMed, and EMBASE up to October 2021. Studies involving adults and geriatric participants with a confirmed previous COVID-19 diagnosis and reported psychiatric symptoms that persist for more than four weeks after the initial infection were included. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for observational studies. Prevalence rates and risk factors associated with psychiatric symptoms were collected. This present study was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42021240776). In total, 23 studies were included. Several limitations in this review were the heterogeneity of studies' outcomes and designs, studies limited to articles published in English, and the psychiatric symptoms mainly were assessed using self-report questionnaires. The most prevalent reported psychiatric symptoms, from the most to the least reported, were anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), poor sleep qualities, somatic symptoms, and cognitive deficits. Being female and having previous psychiatric diagnoses were risk factors for the development of the reported symptoms.

Validation of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in an Indonesian population: a scale adaptation study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to adapt the English-language Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to the Indonesian language and evaluate the validity and reliability of the adapted version (ie, HADS-Indonesia). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted between June and November 2018. First, a translation and back-translation process was conducted by a committee consisting of the researchers, a psychiatrist, a methodology consultant and two translators. Face and convergent validity and test-retest reliability evaluations were conducted. Next, structural validity and internal consistency analyses were performed. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) test evaluated the scale's test-retest reliability. A Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate the correlation between HADS-Indonesia and Zung's Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) for convergent validity evidence. Next, a structural validity analysis using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and an internal consistency evaluation based on Cronbach's alpha was conducted. SETTING: This study was conducted in three villages in Jatinangor subdistrict, Sumedang Regency, West Java province, Indonesia; the villages were chosen based on their profiles. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 200 participants (male: n=91, 45.50% and female: n=109, 54.50%), with a mean age of 42.41 (14.25) years, were enrolled in this study using a convenience sampling method. The inclusion criteria were age ≥18 years old with basic Indonesian language literacy. RESULTS: The overall HADS-Indonesia's ICC value was 0.98. There was a significant positive correlation between HADS-Indonesia's anxiety subscale and Zung's SAS (rs=0.45, p=0.030) and between the depression subscale of HADS-Indonesia and Zung's SDS (rs=0.58, p<0.001). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin statistics (KMO) (KMO=0.89) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ2(91, N=200)=1052.38, p<0.001)) indicated an adequate number of samples for EFA. All items' commonality was >0.40 and the average inter-item correlation was 0.36. EFA yielded a 2-factor solution explaining 50.80% (40.40%+10.40%) of the total variance. All items from the original HADS were retained, including its original subscales. The adapted HADS-Anxiety subscale consisted of seven items (alpha=0.85), and the HADS-Depression subscale consisted of seven items (alpha=0.80). CONCLUSIONS: HADS-Indonesia is a valid and reliable instrument for use in the general population of Indonesia. However, further studies are warranted to provide more sophisticated validity and reliability evidence.

Murine typhus is a common cause of acute febrile illness in Bandung, Indonesia.

Murine typhus (MT), an infection caused by the gram-negative bacteria Rickettsia typhi (R. typhi), is a significant cause of acute febrile illness (AFI) in Southeast Asia but is rarely reported in Indonesia. The current study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of MT cases in Bandung, West Java. Non-confirmed AFI cases (n = 176) from a prospective cohort study of whom paired serum samples (acute (T1), midterm (T2), or convalescent (T3)) were available were screened using MT serology. IgG against R. typhi was detected in the T2 or T3 samples using an in-house ELISA. Positive IgG samples were further screened for the presence of IgM. If both IgM and IgG were positive, the endpoint titer of T1, T2, or T3 was determined. In cases with a fourfold increase in titer, real-time PCR of T1 samples was performed to detect R. typhi DNA. In total, 71/176 (40.3%) patients tested positive for IgG antibody, and 26 AFI cases were confirmed as MT (23 cases by PCR, 3 cases by fourfold titer increased IgG or IgM titer). The most common clinical symptoms in the confirmed cases were headache (80%), arthralgia (73%), malaise (69%), and myalgia (54%). In these cases, the presumptive clinical diagnoses were typhoid fever (43.2%), dengue (38.5%), and leptospirosis (19.2%). MT was not considered in any of the patients, and no patients received doxycycline. These findings confirmed that MT is an important cause of AFI in Indonesia. MT should be included in the differential diagnosis of AFI, and empirical treatment with doxycycline should be considered.

Case report: Depressive disorder with peripartum onset camouflages suspected intracranial tuberculoma.

Background: Co-occuring psychological symptoms and rare medical illnesses like intracranial tuberculoma add difficulties in diagnosing and treatment. The present report discussed a rare case of a young woman with tuberculoma and depressive disorder with peripartum onset. Case presentation: The patient was a 22-year-old woman. She underwent a cesarean section due to premature rupture of the membrane. She had developed behavioral changes for 3 months before admission and had been brought to general practitioner for several times during pregnancy. Her symptoms worsen after she underwent a cesarean section. She refused to answer doctor's and family's questions and she showed symptoms of depression. She was diagnosed with depressive disorder with peripartum onset and treated according to her diagnosis. However, she also experienced intermittent headaches which lead to suspicion that there was an organic cause for her complaints. Computed tomography (CT) was done and revealed suspected intracranial tuberculoma and meningitis. She died due to respiratory distress before she got adequate treatment for her illnesses. Conclusion: The possibility of neurocognitive disorder due to infection such as intracranial tuberculoma should be considered as an additional diagnosis (co-occuring disease) or differential diagnosis in people who develop psychiatric symptoms, especially in areas with high tuberculosis incidence.

Healthcare Workers' Point of View on Medical Robotics During COVID-19 Pandemic - A Scoping Review.

COVID-19 affected how healthcare workers interact with patients. Medical technology and robotics are developed in hospital settings to limit human contact. The aim of this review is to elucidate what kind of medical robotics is required for healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic. This review was obtained from electronic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCO, and Cochrane reviews were searched for articles using keywords such as "healthcare professional" OR "health worker" AND "COVID-19" AND "robot application" OR "robotics" OR "health technology" AND "needs assessment" OR "expectation" OR "perception" published during 2020 to 2021. Inclusion criteria were full-text articles related to assessment of healthcare workers' need for medical robotics during COVID-19 pandemics. Exclusion criteria included abstracts, duplicate articles, blogs, news articles, promotional brochures, and conference proceedings. A total of 13,692 articles were identified through the search engines (PubMed 179, Cochrane Library 1300, EBSCO 13, Google Scholar 12,200). Five full-text articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Determining robotic functions is important to healthcare workers who will be user of such medical technology. This review divided robotic functions into medical, operational, movement, and social functions. Healthcare workers' demands for robotics were also influenced by the types of robots, such as examination robots, robot-based sample test and medicine production, surgery and rehabilitation robots, disinfection and cleaning robots, delivery and logistic robot, telemedicine, and telepresence robots. Medical robotics is required for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The highest demands for medical robotics functions include cardiac measurements and oxygen saturation monitoring (medical functions); examination record delivery, video and image play, and medical information delivery (operational functions); and the ability to recognize and avoid obstacles (movement functions). Disinfection and cleaning robots were the type of robots with the highest demand among healthcare workers.

Corrigendum to "Eel's Head Powder Reduces Mild-Moderate Depression in Geriatric Individual: Result from Randomized Controlled Trial Study".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2020/4658514.].

High risk behavior for HIV transmission among former injecting drug users: a survey from Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: Injecting drug use is an increasingly important cause of HIV transmission in most countries worldwide, especially in eastern Europe, South America, and east and southeast Asia. Among people actively injecting drugs, provision of clean needles and opioid substitution reduce HIV-transmission. However, former injecting drug users (fIDUs) are often overlooked as a high risk group for HIV transmission. We compared HIV risk behavior among current and former injecting drug users (IDUs) in Indonesia, which has a rapidly growing HIV-epidemic largely driven by injecting drug use. METHODS: Current and former IDUs were recruited by respondent driven sampling in an urban setting in Java, and interviewed regarding drug use and HIV risk behavior using the European Addiction Severity Index and the Blood Borne Virus Transmission Questionnaire. Drug use and HIV transmission risk behavior were compared between current IDUs and former IDUs, using the Mann-Whitney and Pearson Chi-square test. RESULTS: Ninety-two out of 210 participants (44%) were self reported former IDUs. Risk behavior related to sex, tattooing or piercing was common among current as well as former IDUs, 13% of former IDUs were still exposed to contaminated injecting equipment. HIV-infection was high among former (66%) and current (60%) IDUs. CONCLUSION: Former IDUs may contribute significantly to the HIV-epidemic in Indonesia, and HIV-prevention should therefore also target this group, addressing sexual and other risk behavior.

Eel's Head Powder Reduces Mild-Moderate Depression in Geriatric Individual: Result from Randomized Controlled Trial Study.

Depression is one of the major problems, and the prevalence is higher among the elderly. The underlying mechanism of depression among this set of the population is multifactorial, and one of the most important factors in the pathophysiology of depression is the level of brain serotonin. Protein deficiency is linked to tryptophan deficiency that is known to be the essential material for the synthesis of serotonin. This randomized controlled trial looked for the effectiveness of eel's head powder administration on plasma tryptophan level and geriatric depression scale (GDS) scores among the elderly population who suffered from depression. The subjects were divided into three intervention groups, including groups that were given 2-week course of 5 mg/kg BW eel's head powder, 10 mg/kg BW eel's head powder, and placebo, respectively. There was a significant difference in plasma tryptophan level and geriatric depression scale between the 10 mg/kg BW group and 5 mg/kg BW group. There was also a significant difference between those given 10 mg/kg BW eel's head powder and those receiving placebo; however, no such difference was found between those in the 5 mg/kg BW eel's head powder group and placebo group. Eel's head powder administration could increase plasma tryptophan level and reduce geriatric depression scale score among older individuals who suffered from depression. Administration of 10 mg/kg BW eel's head powder was significant in increasing plasma tryptophan level and reducing GDS score.

Increasing HIV treatment access, uptake and use among men who have sex with men in urban Indonesia: evidence from a qualitative study in three cities.

Men who have sex with men make up one of four key populations identified as critical to a successful HIV response in Indonesia. Despite international policies supporting HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries, Indonesia is one of the few countries experiencing low coverage of HIV treatment and little decrease in HIV incidence. There is poor retention in care and low viral suppression rates among key populations such as men who have sex with men. The national government has committed to increasing treatment access and uptake for people with HIV but little is known about how these men themselves view, use and experience these medications. Drawing on qualitative data collected in 2015-16 from 24 HIV-positive men who have sex with men living in three Indonesian cities, we observed multiple intersecting social and contextual factors that can influence effective HIV treatment use. Although shared stories of strong side effects and fear of unwanted disclosure inhibited treatment uptake, social support from 'buddies' helped to navigate healthcare systems and sharing medication among peers enabled adherence. In order to improve treatment uptake and adherence among Indonesian men who have sex with men living with HIV, these divergent effects of the social meanings and practices associated with HIV treatments in Indonesia must be better acknowledged. A more comprehensive understanding of social and community practices within key populations can strengthen national efforts to improve treatment access and increase adherence. Ongoing decentralization of healthcare in Indonesia, and differentiated care models that enable initiation of treatment in community settings and involve non-medical, community-based organizations in the provision of treatment services have the potential to address the needs of individuals who fall into a key population category such as men who have sex with men.

Integration of methadone maintenance treatment and HIV care for injecting drug users: a cohort study in Bandung, Indonesia.

AIM: to know the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment (ART) among methadone clients and patients who started ART outside the methadone program during the same period. METHODS: uptake of HIV testing and treatment were evaluated in a cohort of IDUs starting MMT. Effectiveness of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) was compared with matched 175 HIV-patients with a history of IDU outside MMT. RESULTS: overall, 223 patients were enrolled in MMT between May 2006 and January 2009, of whom 44% were tested for HIV, with an HIV prevalence of 73%. Screening of MMT clients was responsible for diagnosing HIV and starting ART in 31.9%, respectively 45.7%. Two year retention (100% vs 97.1%; p=0.23) and survival (93.9% vs 92.3%; p=0.76) during ART were not significantly different for 35 patients who combined ART with methadone, and the control group (n=175). Virological failure was found in one patient (3.7%) in MMT compared to 10.5% of the control group. CONCLUSION: providing HIV testing and treatment is a feasible and effective way to increase detection and treatment of HIV among clients enrolled in MMT. HIV- treatment integrated with methadone maintenance can be very effective. These results support wider application of integrated HIV care and opioid substitution.

Prevention and treatment of HIV addicted patients: a biopsychosocial approach.

Injecting drug use is the main route of HIV transmission in many parts of Indonesia. Efforts to prevent HIV-transmission through injecting drug use mostly focus on subjects who actively inject. In scientific publications, the term 'injecting drug users' tends to be used without a clear definition and without specifying the pattern of drug use as current or former drug use, frequency, duration, type of injected drug(s) or context (e.g. imprisonment). Actually, injecting drug users (IDUs) have different drug use patterns, risk behavior, somatic co-morbidity, psychiatric co-morbidity, and psychosocial problems. In fact, these patients are suffering from addiction as a chronic brain disease in co-occurrence with somatic and psychiatric disorder and many social problems. Failing in addressing the problems comprehensively will lead to the failure of drug treatment. This is why addiction can be best studied and treated from a biopsychosocial perspective. Accordingly, treatment goals can be differentiated in crisis intervention, cure or recovery (detoxification, relapse prevention), and care or partial remission (stabilization and harm reduction). In summary, injecting drug use in Indonesia is not a single entity and patient oriented prevention and care for IDUs, especially focusing on their addiction, should be addressed to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Behavioral aspects of HIV prevention and care in Indonesia: A plea for a multi-disciplinary, theory- and evidence-based approach.

Projections estimate 1,000,000 HIV infected by 2015 in Indonesia. Key behaviors to HIV prevention and care are determined by a complex set of individual/ environmental factors. This paper presents empirical data, local evidence and theoretical concepts to determine the role of social sciences in HIV prevention/care. Injecting Drug Use (IDU) is a social and very risky activity: 95% injected in the presence of peers and 49% reported needles sharing. 82% of IDUs do not use condoms consistently. Poor adherence to ARV treatment is related to a complex set of, mostly behavioral, factors beyond effective influence by standard professional skills of medical staff. Meta-analysis indicated that about 1/3 of the variance in behaviour can be explained by the combined effect of intention and perceived behavioral control, the two cornerstones of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). It is advisable to adapt TPB in the light of the Indonesian context. Current theories of behavior and behavior change give professionals of all disciplines, working in HIV prevention and care, effective tools to change behavior and to improve HIV prevention and access and quality of HIV care.

Excellent reliability and validity of the Addiction Medicine Training Need Assessment Scale across four countries.

BACKGROUND: Addiction is a context specific but common and devastating condition. Though several evidence-based treatments are available, many of them remain under-utilized, among others due to the lack of adequate training in addiction medicine (AM). AM Training needs may differ across countries because of difference in discipline and level of prior AM training or contextual factors like epidemiology and availability of treatment. For appropriate testing of training needs, reliability and validity are key issues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the AM-TNA Scale: an instrument specifically designed to develop the competence-based curriculum of the Indonesian AM course. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study in Indonesia, Ireland, Lithuania and the Netherlands the AM-TNA was distributed among a convenience sample of health professionals working in addiction care in The Netherlands, Lithuania, Indonesia and General Practitioners in-training in Ireland. 428 respondents completed the AM-TNA scale. To assess the factor structure, we used explorative factor analysis. Reliability was tested using Cronbach's Alpha, ANOVA determined the discriminative validity. RESULTS: Validity: factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure: One on providing direct patient treatment and care (Factor 1: clinical) and one factor on facilitating/supporting direct patient treatment and care (Factor 2: non-clinical) AM competencies and a cumulative 76% explained variance. Reliability: Factor 1 α = 0.983 and Factor 2: α = 0.956, while overall reliability was (α = 0.986). The AM-TNA was able to differentiate training needs across groups of AM professionals on all 30 addiction medicine competencies (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: In our study the AM-TNA scale had a strong two-factor structure and proofed to be a reliable and valid instrument. The next step should be the testing external validity, strengthening discriminant validity and assessing the re-test effect and measuring changes over time.

Understanding the Social Influences on Engaging Key Populations With HIV Prevention: A Qualitative Study With Men Who Have Sex With Men in Three Indonesian Cities.

The globally recognized test and treat approach underpins Indonesian national strategies to reduce and prevent HIV among key populations, including men who have sex with men. More comprehensive understanding of how engagement with HIV prevention is shaped by social and community practices will support these efforts. Between 2015 and 2016, focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 54 men who have sex with men in three urban settings in Indonesia to elicit their views on, and experiences of, HIV prevention and care. Focused on data relating to testing, findings documented the important influence of informal peer networks, community-based organizations and outreach workers. Some social dimensions of service access complicated this, particularly fear of stigma or lack of confidentiality in large service settings. The many differences between men challenges assumptions that a single set of HIV prevention strategies will work to engage all men who have sex with men living in Indonesia.

The cascade of HIV care among key populations in Indonesia: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Indonesia has had low uptake of HIV testing and treatment. We did a study to estimate the cascade of HIV care in key populations and identify predictors of outcomes at key cascade steps. METHODS: We used an observational cohort study design to recruit and follow up men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers, transgender women (known as waria in Indonesia), and people who inject drugs (PWID) diagnosed with HIV in four locations in Indonesia: Bali, Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. Recruitment, baseline, and follow-up visits were done at collaborating clinical services, including both primary care sites and hospitals. Inclusion criteria for participants included identifying as a member of a key population, age 16 years or older, not previously tested positive for HIV, and HIV positivity at baseline. All participants were offered treatment as per national guidelines, with the addition of viral load testing and completion of study-specific forms. Estimates were calculated of proportions of participants linked to care, commencing treatment, adherent to treatment, and who achieved virological suppression. We used logistic regression to investigate characteristics associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and viral suppression and Cox regression to identify factors associated with loss to follow-up. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03429842. FINDINGS: Between Sept 15, 2015, and Sept 30, 2016, 831 individuals were enrolled in the study, comprising 637 (77%) MSM, 116 (14%) female sex workers, 27 (3%) waria, and 51 (6%) PWID. Of those enrolled, 703 (84·6%, 95% CI 82·1-87·1) were linked to HIV care and 606 (86·2%, 83·7-88·8) who were linked with care started ART. Among participants who started treatment, 457 (75·4%, 71·8-78·9) were retained in care, of whom 325 (71·1%, 66·7-75·2) had a viral load test about 6 months after enrolment, with 294 (90·5%, 86·7-93·4) of those tested (294 [35%, 32·1-38·7] of the original cohort) virally suppressed. 146 (24%) of 606 who started treatment were lost to follow-up. People who enrolled at sites that offered both testing and treatment had a higher likelihood of treatment initiation than those who enrolled at sites offering testing only (p<0·0001 by multivariate analysis), and participants who had been linked to care and had a high school or university education were significantly more likely to achieve viral suppression than those with a primary school or lower level of education (p≤0·029 by mulivariate analysis). INTERPRETATION: HIV cascade data among key populations in Indonesia show very poor rates of retention in treatment and viral suppression. Site and individual characteristics associated with initiating and continuing treatment suggest an urgent need to develop and implement effective interventions to support patients in achieving viral suppression among all people with HIV. FUNDING: Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, WHO, and Indonesian Government.

Injecting drug use is associated with a more rapid CD4 cell decline among treatment naïve HIV-positive patients in Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether the natural course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) differs in subjects infected through injecting drug use (IDU) and no data have been published from low- or middle-income countries. We addressed this question in an urban cohort in Indonesia, which is experiencing a rapidly growing HIV epidemic strongly driven by IDU. METHODS: All antiretroviral treatment (ART) naïve HIV-positive patients who had at least two subsequent CD4 cell counts available before starting ART were included in this study. We examined the association between IDU and CD4 cell decline using a linear mixed model, with adjustment for possible confounders such as HIV viral load and hepatitis C antibodies. RESULTS: Among 284 HIV-positive ART naïve patients, the majority were male (56%) with a history of IDU (79% among men). People with a history of IDU had a statistically significant faster decline in CD4 cells (p<0.001). Based on our data, patients with a history of IDU would have an average 33% decline in CD4 cells after one year without ART, compared with a 22% decline among non-users. At two years, the decline would average 66 and 40%, respectively. No other factor was significantly associated with CD4 cell decline. CONCLUSIONS: We show that a history of IDU is associated with a more rapid CD4 cell natural decline among HIV-positive individuals in Indonesia. These findings have implications for monitoring ART naïve patients with a history of IDU and for starting ART in this group.

Psychiatric comorbidity in injecting drug users in Asia and Africa.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidity in injecting drug users (IDUs) in the Western countries is high and is associated with lower quality of life and reduces the effectiveness of treatment programs. The aim of this study is to provide a review about psychiatric comorbidity in IDUs in Asia and Africa, where HIV prevalence is high and still increasing. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies focusing on psychiatric comorbidity in Asia and Africa are scarce. The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity is comparable with the prevalence in western countries. Psychiatric disorders can occur before or during drug abuse and are also associated with substance abuse and physical comorbidity and its treatments. Childhood trauma followed by post-traumatic disorders is a significant risk factor for substance abuse. Psychiatric co-occurring disorders influence the adherence to the physical and drug use treatment. Evidence-based treatment for psychiatric comorbidity in IDUs is still limited. SUMMARY: A better understanding of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in IDUs and its impact on the overall treatments is growing. However, more studies focusing on the treatment for psychiatric comorbidity in IDUs in Asia and Africa are needed.