Fracture Risk and Association With TDF Use Among People With HIV in Large Integrated Health Systems.

BACKGROUND: Greater decline in bone health among people with HIV (PWH) has been documented but fracture risk and the impact of specific antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens remain unclear. SETTING: Retrospective analyses of electronic health record data from 3 US integrated health care systems. METHODS: Fracture incidence was compared between PWH aged 40 years or older without prior fracture and demographically matched people without HIV (PWoH), stratified by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate fracture risk associated with HIV infection. The association of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) use and fracture risk was evaluated in a subset of PWH initiating ART. RESULTS: Incidence of fracture was higher in PWH [13.6/1000 person-years, 95% confidence interval (CI): 13.0 to 14.3, n = 24,308] compared with PWoH (9.5, 95% CI: 9.4 to 9.7, n = 247,313). Compared with PWoH, the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for fracture among PWH was 1.24 (95% CI: 1.18 to 1.31). The association between HIV infection and fracture risk increased with age, with the lowest aHR (1.17, 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.25) among those aged 40-49 years and the highest aHR (1.89, 95% CI: 1.30 to 2.76) among those aged 70 years or older. Among PWH initiating ART (n = 6504), TDF was not associated with significant increase in fracture risk compared with non-TDF regimens (aHR: 1.18, 95% CI: 0.89 to 1.58). CONCLUSIONS: Among people aged 40 years or older, HIV infection is associated with increased risk of fractures. Bone health screening from the age of 40 years may be beneficial for PWH. Large cohort studies with longer follow-up are needed to evaluate TDF effect and the potential benefit of early screening.

Characterization of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Use Behaviors and HIV Incidence Among US Adults in an Integrated Health Care System.

Importance: Long-term follow-up is needed to evaluate gaps in HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care delivery and to identify individuals at risk for falling out of care. Objective: To characterize the PrEP continuum of care, including prescription, initiation, discontinuation, and reinitiation, and evaluate incident HIV infections. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study used data from the electronic health records (EHR) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California to identify individuals aged 18 years and older who received PrEP care between July 2012 and March 2019. Individuals were followed up from date of linkage (defined as a PrEP referral or PrEP-coded encounter) until March 2019, HIV diagnosis, discontinuation of health plan membership, or death. Data were analyzed from December 2019 to January 2021. Exposures: Sociodemographic factors included age, sex, race and ethnicity, and neighborhood deprivation index, and clinical characteristics were extracted from the EHR. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcomes were attrition at each step of the PrEP continuum of care and incident HIV infections. Results: Among 13 906 individuals linked to PrEP care, the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 33 (27-43) years, 6771 individuals (48.7%) were White, and 13 227 (95.1%) were men. Total follow-up was 26 210 person-years (median [IQR], 1.6 [0.7-2.8] years). Of individuals linked to PrEP care, 88.1% (95% CI, 86.1%-89.9%) were prescribed PrEP and of these, 98.2% (95% CI, 97.2%-98.8%) initiated PrEP. After PrEP initiation, 52.2% (95% CI, 48.9%-55.7%) discontinued PrEP at least once during the study period, and 60.2% (95% CI, 52.2%-68.3%) of these individuals subsequently reinitiated. Compared with individuals aged 18 to 25 years, older individuals were more likely to receive a PrEP prescription (eg, age >45 years: hazard ratio [HR], 1.21 [95% CI, 1.14-1.29]) and initiate PrEP (eg, age >45 years: HR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.02-1.16]) and less likely to discontinue (eg, age >45 years: HR, 0.46 [95% CI, 0.42-0.52]). Compared with White patients, African American and Latinx individuals were less likely to receive a PrEP prescription (African American: HR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.69-0.81]; Latinx: HR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.84-0.93]) and initiate PrEP (African American: HR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.80-0.95]; Latinx: HR, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.86-0.95]) and more likely to discontinue (African American: HR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.17-1.57]; Latinx: 1.33 [95% CI, 1.22-1.46]). Similarly, women, individuals with lower neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES), and persons with a substance use disorder (SUD) were less likely to be prescribed (women: HR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.50-0.62]; lowest SES: HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.68-0.76]; SUD: HR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.82-0.94]) and initiate PrEP (women: HR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.64-0.80]; lower SES: HR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.87-.0.99]; SUD: HR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.81-0.95]) and more likely to discontinue (women: HR, 1.99 [95% CI, 1.67-2.38]); lower SES: HR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.26-1.57]; SUD: HR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.09-1.39]). HIV incidence was highest among individuals who discontinued PrEP and did not reinitiate PrEP (1.28 [95% CI, 0.93-1.76] infections per 100 person-years). Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that gaps in the PrEP care continuum were concentrated in populations disproportionately impacted by HIV, including African American individuals, Latinx individuals, young adults (aged 18-25 years), and individuals with SUD. Comprehensive strategies to improve PrEP continuum outcomes are needed to maximize PrEP impact and equity.

Use of electronic health record data and machine learning to identify candidates for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: a modelling study.

BACKGROUND: The limitations of existing HIV risk prediction tools are a barrier to implementation of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). We developed and validated an HIV prediction model to identify potential PrEP candidates in a large health-care system. METHODS: Our study population was HIV-uninfected adult members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, a large integrated health-care system, who were not yet using PrEP and had at least 2 years of previous health plan enrolment with at least one outpatient visit from Jan 1, 2007, to Dec 31, 2017. Using 81 electronic health record (EHR) variables, we applied least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to predict incident HIV diagnosis within 3 years on a subset of patients who entered the cohort in 2007-14 (development dataset), assessing ten-fold cross-validated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and 95% CIs. We compared the full model to simpler models including only men who have sex with men (MSM) status and sexually transmitted infection (STI) positivity, testing, and treatment. Models were validated prospectively with data from an independent set of patients who entered the cohort in 2015-17. We computed predicted probabilities of incident HIV diagnosis within 3 years (risk scores), categorised as low risk (<0·05%), moderate risk (0·05% to <0·20%), high risk (0·20% to <1·0%), and very high risk (≥1·0%), for all patients in the validation dataset. FINDINGS: Of 3 750 664 patients in 2007-17 (3 143 963 in the development dataset and 606 701 in the validation dataset), there were 784 incident HIV cases within 3 years of baseline. The LASSO procedure retained 44 predictors in the full model, with an AUC of 0·86 (95% CI 0·85-0·87) for incident HIV cases in 2007-14. Model performance remained high in the validation dataset (AUC 0·84, 0·80-0·89). The full model outperformed simpler models including only MSM status and STI positivity. For the full model, flagging 13 463 (2·2%) patients with high or very high HIV risk scores in the validation dataset identified 32 (38·6%) of the 83 incident HIV cases, including 32 (46·4%) of 69 male cases and none of the 14 female cases. The full model had equivalent sensitivity by race whereas simpler models identified fewer black than white HIV cases. INTERPRETATION: Prediction models using EHR data can identify patients at high risk of HIV acquisition who could benefit from PrEP. Future studies should optimise EHR-based HIV risk prediction tools and evaluate their effect on prescription of PrEP. FUNDING: Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Research Program and the US National Institutes of Health.

Hepatitis C treatment uptake and response among human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis C virus-coinfected patients in a large integrated healthcare system.

U.S. guidelines recommend that patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) be prioritized for HCV treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs), but the high cost of DAAs may contribute to disparities in treatment uptake and outcomes. We evaluated DAA initiation and effectiveness in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients in a U.S.-based healthcare system during October 2014-December 2017. Of 462 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, 276 initiated DAAs (70% cumulative proportion treated over three years). Lower likelihood of DAA initiation was observed among patients with Medicare (government-sponsored insurance) versus commercial insurance (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.46-0.84), patients with drug abuse diagnoses (aRR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.54-0.97), patients with CD4 cell count <200 cells/µl versus ≥500 (aRR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23-0.91), and patients without prior HCV treatment (aRR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.48-0.97). There were no significant differences in DAA initiation by age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, HIV transmission risk, alcohol use, smoking, fibrosis level, HIV RNA levels, antiretroviral therapy use, hepatitis B infection, or number of outpatient visits. Ninety-five percent of patients achieved sustained virologic response (SVR). We found little evidence of sociodemographic disparities in DAA initiation among HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, and SVR rates were high. Efforts are needed to increase DAA uptake among coinfected Medicare enrollees, patients with drug abuse diagnoses, patients with low CD4 cell count, and patients receiving first-time HCV treatment.

Risk Perception, Sexual Behaviors, and PrEP Adherence Among Substance-Using Men Who Have Sex with Men: a Qualitative Study.

The antiretroviral drug combination emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF/FTC) taken as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective in preventing HIV infection, yet it also requires adherence and potentially decreases condom use. This study sought to examine these issues among a key population at risk of HIV infection, substance-using men who have sex with men (MSM). We conducted semi-structured interviews with an ethnically diverse sample of 30 young (aged 20-35) MSM prescribed PrEP within a large integrated healthcare system in San Francisco, who had reported recent drug use or hazardous drinking and one or more missed doses of PrEP. We explored participants' risk perception and sexual risk behavior, drug and alcohol use, and PrEP adherence in the context of substance use. Interviews were transcribed and coded using a directed content analysis approach to identify key categories and commonalities, and differences across participants. Salient subcategories included positive psychological effects of being on PrEP (e.g., decreased anxiety, feelings of empowerment), social effects (e.g., reduced HIV stigma), and reduction in overall perceptions of HIV risk. While overall reported use of condoms went down and many reported a brief period of increased condomless sex following PrEP initiation, others continued condom use with most of their sexual partners. Contextual factors influencing their decision to engage in condomless sex included how well they knew the partner and whether the partner was on PrEP or HIV antiretroviral treatment. Factors associated with poor adherence included disruptions in daily routine and use of alcohol and methamphetamine. PrEP-prescribing clinicians should support their patients in making informed decisions about condom use and identifying strategies to maximize adherence in the context of substance use.

Immunodeficiency, AIDS-related pneumonia, and risk of lung cancer among HIV-infected individuals.

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to clarify the role of immunodeficiency and pneumonia in elevated lung cancer risk among HIV-infected individuals. DESIGN: Cohort study of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected adults in a large integrated healthcare system in California during 1996-2011. METHODS: We used Poisson models to obtain rate ratios for lung cancer associated with HIV infection, overall and stratified by recent CD4 cells/µl (HIV-uninfected as reference group), with χ tests for trends across CD4 strata. Fully adjusted models included demographics, cancer risk factors (smoking, drug/alcohol abuse, overweight/obesity), and prior pneumonia. RESULTS: Among 24 768 HIV-infected and 257 600 HIV-uninfected individuals, the lung cancer rate per 100 000 person-years was 66 (n = 80 events) for HIV-infected and 33 (n = 506 events) for HIV-uninfected individuals [rate ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.7-2.2]. Overall, HIV-infected individuals were at increased risk of lung cancer after adjustment for demographics and cancer risk factors (rate ratio 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.7), but not after additional adjustment for pneumonia (rate ratio 1.2, 95% CI: 0.9-1.6). Lower CD4 cell counts were associated with higher risk of lung cancer in unadjusted and demographics-adjusted models (P < 0.001 for all), but this trend did not remain after adjustment for cancer risk factors and pneumonia. Compared with HIV-uninfected individuals, HIV-infected individuals with CD4 less than 200 cells/µl were not at increased risk of lung cancer in fully adjusted models. CONCLUSION: The increased lung cancer risk among HIV patients is attributable to differences in demographics, risk factors such as smoking, and history of pneumonia. Immunodeficiency does not appear to have an independent effect on lung cancer risk.

Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention in a Large Integrated Health Care System: Adherence, Renal Safety, and Discontinuation.

BACKGROUND: Placebo-controlled and open-label studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of daily oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in preventing HIV infection, but data are limited on real-world PrEP use. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study from July 2012 through June 2015 of Kaiser Permanente Northern California members initiating PrEP. We assessed pharmacy refill adherence and discontinuation, decreases in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV incidence. RESULTS: Overall, 972 individuals initiated PrEP, accumulating 850 person-years of PrEP use. Mean adherence was 92% overall. Black race/ethnicity [adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 3.0; 95% confidence interval: 1.7 to 5.1, P < 0.001], higher copayments (aRR 2.0; 1.2 to 3.3, P = 0.005), and smoking (aRR 1.6; 1.1 to 2.3, P = 0.025) were associated with <80% adherence. PrEP was discontinued by 219 (22.5%); female sex (aRR 2.6; 1.5 to 4.6, P < 0.001) and drug/alcohol abuse (aRR 1.8; 1.3 to 2.6, P = 0.002) were associated with discontinuation. Among 909 with follow-up creatinine testing, 141 (15.5%) had an eGFR <70 mL·min·1.73 m and 5 (0.6%) stopped PrEP because of low eGFR. Quarterly STI positivity was high and increased over time for rectal chlamydia (P < 0.001) and urethral gonorrhea (P = 0.012). No HIV seroconversions occurred during PrEP use; however, 2 occurred in individuals who discontinued PrEP after losing insurance coverage. CONCLUSIONS: PrEP adherence was high in clinical practice, consistent with the lack of HIV seroconversions during PrEP use. Discontinuation because of renal toxicity was rare. STI screening every 6 months, as recommended by current guidelines, may be inadequate. Strategies are needed to increase PrEP access during gaps in insurance coverage.

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Among HIV-Infected and HIV-Uninfected Adults in a Large Integrated Healthcare System.

It is unclear whether HIV-infected individuals remain at higher risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) compared with HIV-uninfected individuals. We conducted a cohort study of HIV-infected and demographically matched HIV-uninfected adults within Kaiser Permanente Northern California during the period 1996-2011. We used Poisson models to obtain rate ratios (RRs) for incident IPD associated with HIV infection and other risk factors. Among 13,079 HIV-infected and 137,643 HIV-uninfected adults, the IPD rate per 100,000 person-years was 160 (n = 109 events) for HIV-infected and 8 (n = 75 events) for HIV-uninfected subjects, with an adjusted RR of 13.0 [95% confidence interval (CI): 9.1-18.7]. For HIV-infected individuals, IPD incidence per 100,000 person-years decreased by 71% during study follow-up, from 305 in 1996-1999 to 88 in 2010-2011 (p < 0.001), with an adjusted RR of 6.6 (95% CI: 2.7-16.1) compared with HIV-uninfected subjects in 2010-2011. Risk factors for IPD among HIV-infected individuals included black compared with white race/ethnicity, smoking, cancer, and higher HIV RNA levels. The 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination was not associated with a reduced risk of IPD in HIV-infected or HIV-uninfected individuals. Among HIV-infected IPD cases, the most common serotype was 19A (33%), and 59% of serotypes were covered by the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). Despite a dramatic decline in IPD incidence for HIV-infected adults since 1996, IPD rates were nearly sevenfold higher compared with HIV-uninfected adults in recent years, even after adjustment for risk factors. Timely antiretroviral therapy initiation, risk reduction strategies, and recent guidelines recommending PCV13 use may further reduce IPD incidence among HIV patients.

Preexposure Prophylaxis and Patient Centeredness: A Call for Holistically Protecting and Promoting the Health of Gay Men.

Preexposure prophylaxis has transformed HIV prevention, becoming widespread in communities of gay and bisexual men in the developed world in a short time. There is a broad concern that preexposure prophylaxis will discourage condom use among gay men (i.e., "risk compensation"). This commentary argues for broadening the focus on gay men's health beyond sexual health to address the holistic health and well-being of gay men. Gay men may benefit from being offered candid, nonjudgmental health promotion/HIV prevention messages not requiring condom use for anal sex. Lessons can be drawn from the family planning movement, which has undergone a similar shift in focus. The principle of patient centeredness supports such a shift in gay men's health toward the goal of providing men with the knowledge to evaluate various prevention approaches according to the specifics of their life circumstances and health needs. Bringing more nuance to discussions of sexual risk and sexual pleasure could facilitate more universally healthy attitudes regarding sex among gay men, in turn enabling healthier decisions more compatible with men's own values and preferences.