A Mobile Health App (WYZ) for Engagement in Care and Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Youth and Young Adults Living With HIV: Single-Arm Pilot Intervention Study.

BACKGROUND: Youth are globally recognized as being vulnerable to HIV. Younger age has been correlated with worse health outcomes. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have the potential to interact with youth where they are, using a device they already access. OBJECTIVE: Using predefined benchmarks, we sought to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of WYZ, an mHealth app, for improved engagement in care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among youth and young adults living with HIV. WYZ was designed and developed with input from youth and young adults living with HIV using a human-centered design approach and was based on the information, motivation, and behavioral skills framework to address common barriers to care and ART adherence among youth and young adults living with HIV. METHODS: We recruited youth and young adults living with HIV (18-29 years old) from the San Francisco Bay Area to take part in a 6-month pilot trial. Their participation included completing baseline and exit surveys, and participating in seven phone check-ins about their use of WYZ. RESULTS: Youth and young adults living with HIV (N=79) reported high levels of feasibility and acceptability with WYZ use. We met predefined benchmarks for recruitment (79/84, 94%), mean logins per week (5.3), tracking ART adherence (5442/9393, 57.9%), posting chat topics per week (4.8), and app crashes reported per week (0.24). The ease of app download, install, and setup, and comfort with security, privacy, and anonymity were highly rated (all over 91%). Additionally, participants reported high satisfaction for a research project that was remotely conducted. Participants used the app for shorter timeframes compared to the predefined benchmark. CONCLUSIONS: We noted high feasibility and acceptability with WYZ. Further research to examine the efficacy of WYZ will enable youth and young adults living with HIV and their providers to make informed decisions when using, recommending, and prescribing the app for improved engagement in HIV care and ART adherence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03587857; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03587857.

Addressing HIV care, mental health and substance use among youth and young adults in the Bay Area: description of an intervention to improve information, motivation and behavioural skills.

OBJECTIVE: Youth represent a population disparately impacted by the HIV epidemic. With most new HIV diagnoses occurring among adolescents and young adults, novel approaches to address this disparity are necessary. The objective of the current study was to describe the Youth to Telehealth and Text to Improve Engagement in Care (Y2TEC) intervention, which aims to fill this gap. The Y2TEC intervention (trial registration NCT03681145) offers an innovative approach to improve HIV treatment engagement among youth living with HIV by focusing on treatment barriers related to mental health and substance use. This allows for a holistic approach to providing culturally informed intervention strategies for this population. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The Y2TEC intervention was developed for youth with HIV in the large metropolitan area of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Y2TEC intervention was developed based on formative interdisciplinary research and is grounded in the information-motivation-behavioural skills model. RESULTS: The intervention includes 12 sessions each lasting 20-30 minutes, which are delivered through videoconferencing and accompanying bidirectional text messaging. The intervention sessions are individualised, with session dosage in each major content area determined by participant's level of acuity. CONCLUSIONS: The Y2TEC intervention is well positioned to help decrease HIV-related disparities in youth living with HIV through its innovative use of video-counselling technologies and an integrated focus on HIV, mental health and substance use.

Use of technology for delivery of mental health and substance use services to youth living with HIV: a mixed-methods perspective.

Disparities in HIV treatment outcomes among youth living with HIV (YLWH) present a challenge for ending the HIV epidemic. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence can be impacted by comorbidities such as mental health and substance use. Technology use has shown promise in increasing access to mental health and substance use services. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted formative research to describe the relationship between mental health, substance use, and medication adherence in 18-29 year-old YLWH, and explored technology use as an approach to supporting these services. Among 101 YLWH, ART adherence was significantly negatively associated with mental health measures such as depression, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences and marijuana and stimulants use. Depression had the highest level of relative importance in its association with ART adherence. During in-depth interviews with 29 participants, barriers to and facilitators of accessing and maintaining mental health services were identified. Most participants favored technology use for mental health and substance use service delivery, including videoconferencing with a counselor. Provision of ongoing mental health and substance use treatment is an important mechanism to achieving HIV treatment engagement. Technology, particularly videoconferencing, may have the capacity to overcome many barriers to care by increasing accessibility of these services.

Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence and Use of an Electronic Shared Medical Record Among People Living with HIV.

Electronic shared medical records (SMR) are emerging healthcare technologies that allow patients to engage in their healthcare by communicating with providers, refilling prescriptions, scheduling appointments, and viewing portions of medical records. We conducted a pre-post cohort study of HIV-positive adults who used and did not use SMR in two integrated healthcare systems. We compared the difference in antiretroviral refill adherence between SMR users and age- and sex-frequency matched non-users from the 12-month period prior to SMR useto the 12-month period starting 6 months after initiation of SMR use. High adherence was maintained among SMR users (change = -0.11 %) but declined among non-users (change = -2.05 %; p = 0.003). Among SMR users, there was a steady improvement in adherence as monthly frequency of SMR use increased (p = 0.009). SMR use, particularly more frequent use, is associated with maintaining high adherence and non-use is associated with declines in adherence over time among patients with access to these online services.

Clinical implications of the nelfinavir-proton pump inhibitor drug interaction in patients with human immunodeficiency virus.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine if the concomitant use of nelfinavir and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection results in the loss of virologic control. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. DATA SOURCE: Pharmacy, laboratory, and administrative databases of a large integrated health care system in northern California. PATIENTS: A total of 1147 HIV-positive adults who started nelfinavir therapy between November 1, 1998, and June 20, 2003; within this cohort, 141 patients (12.3%) were also prescribed PPIs. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The effects on two virologic outcomes--achievement of undetectable HIV viral load and subsequent virologic rebound--were compared between patients receiving nelfinavir alone and those receiving nelfinavir with PPIs. Cox proportional hazards models were used, with adjustments for age, sex, race, HIV risk factors, hepatitis B or C coinfection, and other concurrent drugs known to affect the metabolism of nelfinavir. The use of PPIs had little effect on the ability to achieve an undetectable HIV viral load (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58-1.19, p=0.29), but there was an approximate 50% increased risk of virologic rebound with the concurrent use of PPIs (adjusted HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.06-2.19, p=0.02). Short-term use of PPIs (defined as within 30 days of initial PPI dispensation) was not associated with increased risk of virologic rebound (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.26-4.41, p=0.93) compared with no use of PPIs. CONCLUSION: Use of PPIs should be minimized or avoided in patients who have attained an undetectable HIV viral load while taking a nelfinavir-based antiretroviral regimen. However, concomitant use of these drugs may be acceptable for indications where PPIs are required for fewer than 30 days.