[Barriers to ART initiation in HIV infected subjects and with treatment indication in Spain. Why don't they start their treatment? Bridgap Study]. / Barreras para el inicio del tratamiento antirretroviral en pacientes con virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana e indicación de tratamiento en España. ¿Por qué no inician tratamiento quienes lo tienen indicado? Estudio Bridgap.

INTRODUCTION: In Spain, HIV treatment guidelines are well known and generally followed. However, in some patients there are no plans to initiate ART despite having treatment indications. The current barriers to ART initiation are presented. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey including every HIV infected patient in care in 19 hospitals across Spain in 2012, with ≥1 indication to start ART according to 2011 national treatment guidelines, who had not been scheduled for ART initiation. Reasons for deferring treatment were categorized as follows (non-exclusive categories): a) The physician thinks the indication is not absolute and prefers to defer it; b) The patient does not want to start it; c) The physician thinks ART must be started, but there is some limitation to starting it, and d) The patient has undetectable viral load in absence of ART. RESULTS: A total of 256 patients, out of 784 originally planned, were included. The large majority (84%) were male, median age 39 years, 57% MSM, 24% heterosexuals, and 16% IDUs. Median time since HIV diagnosis was 3 years, median CD4 count, 501 cells/mm3, median viral load 4.4 log copies/ml. Main ART indications were: CD4 count <500 cells/mm(3), 48%; having an uninfected sexual partner, 28%, and hepatitis C coinfection, 23%. Barriers due to, the physician, 55%; the patient, 28%; other limitations, 23%; and undetectable viral load, 6%. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of subjects with ART indication were on it. The most frequent barriers among those who did not receive it were physician-related, suggesting that the relevance of the conditions that indicate ART may need reinforcing.

Barreras para el inicio del tratamiento antirretroviral en pacientes con virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana e indicación de tratamiento en España. ¿Por qué no inician tratamiento quienes lo tienen indicado? Estudio Bridgap / Barriers to ART initiation in HIV infected subjects and with treatment indication in Spain. Why don’t they start their treatment? Bridgap Study

INTRODUCCIÓN: En España algunos pacientes con VIH no reciben tratamiento antirretroviral (TAR), aun teniendo indicaciones para ello. Nuestro objetivo es identificar las barreras de inicio del TAR en pacientes con indicación para recibirlo. MÉTODOS: Encuesta transversal en 19 hospitales en España en 2012, incluyendo todos los pacientes que no recibían tratamiento y tenían al menos una indicación según las recomendaciones de Gesida/2011. Las posibles barreras se agruparon así (categorías no excluyentes): a) el médico considera que la indicación no es absoluta; b) el paciente no quiere iniciarlo; c) el médico considera que debe iniciarlo pero existe alguna limitación o contraindicación; y d) el paciente tiene viremia indetectable en ausencia de tratamiento. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 256 pacientes de los 784 programados; 84% hombres, mediana de edad 39 años; 57% homosexuales, 24% heterosexuales, 16% UDI. Mediana de tiempo desde el diagnóstico: 3 años, CD4: 501 células/mm3, carga viral 4,4 log. Indicaciones de TAR más frecuentes: CD4 < 500 células/mm3(48%), pareja sexual no infectada (28%), coinfección con virus de la hepatitis C (23%). Las barreras para el inicio del TAR fueron dependientes del médico en el 55% de los casos, del paciente en el 28%, otras limitaciones: 23%, viremia indetectable: 6%. CONCLUSIONES: La mayoría de los pacientes con indicación de TAR lo estaban recibiendo. El motivo más frecuente en quienes no lo recibían fue que el médico pensaba que la indicación no era absoluta, y prefería esperar, lo que sugiere la necesidad de enfatizar en los beneficios de iniciar el TAR en estos casos

INTRODUCTION: In Spain, HIV treatment guidelines are well known and generally followed. However, in some patients there are no plans to initiate ART despite having treatment indications. The current barriers to ART initiation are presented. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey including every HIV infected patient in care in 19 hospitals across Spain in 2012, with ≥1 indication to start ART according to 2011 national treatment guidelines, who had not been scheduled for ART initiation. Reasons for deferring treatment were categorized as follows (non-exclusive categories): a) The physician thinks the indication is not absolute and prefers to defer it; b) The patient does not want to start it; c) The physician thinks ART must be started, but there is some limitation to starting it, and d) The patient has undetectable viral load in absence of ART. RESULTS: A total of 256 patients, out of 784 originally planned, were included. The large majority (84%) were male, median age 39 years, 57% MSM, 24% heterosexuals, and 16% IDUs. Median time since HIV diagnosis was 3 years, median CD4 count, 501 cells/mm3, median viral load 4.4 log copies/ml. Main ART indications were: CD4 count < 500 cells/mm3, 48%; having an uninfected sexual partner, 28%, and hepatitis C coinfection, 23%. Barriers due to, the physician, 55%; the patient, 28%; other limitations, 23%; and undetectable viral load, 6%. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of subjects with ART indication were on it. The most frequent barriers among those who did not receive it were physician-related, suggesting that the relevance of the conditions that indicate ART may need reinforcing

Do HIV-Infected Immigrants Initiating HAART have Poorer Treatment-Related Outcomes than Autochthonous Patients in Spain? Results of the GESIDA 5808 Study.

OBJECTIVE: currently, 12% of the Spanish population is foreign-born, and a third of newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients are immigrants. We determined whether being an immigrant was associated with a poorer response to antiretroviral treatment. METHODS: historical multicenter cohort study of naïve patients starting HAART. The primary endpoint was time to treatment failure (TTF) defined as virological failure (VF), death, opportunistic disease, treatment discontinuation (D/C), or missing patient. Secondary endpoints were TTF expressed as observed data (TFO; censoring missing patients) and time to virological failure (TVF; censoring missing patients and D/C not due to VF). A multivariate analysis was performed to control for confounders. RESULTS: a total of 1090 treatment-naïve HIV-infected patients (387 immigrants and 703 autochthonous) from 33 hospitals were included. Most immigrants were from Sub-Saharan Africa (28.3%) or South-Central America/Caribbean (31%). Immigrants were significantly younger (34 y vs. 39 y), more frequently female (37.5% vs. 24.6%), with less HCV coinfection than autochthonous patients (7% vs. 31.3%). There were no differences in baseline viral load (4.95 Log(10) vs. 4.98 Log(10)), CD4 lymphocyte count (193.5/µL vs. 201.5/µL), late initiation of HAART (56.4% vs. 56.0%), or antiretrovirals used. Cox-regression analysis (HR; 95%CI) did not show differences in TTF (0.89; 0.66-1.20), TFO (0.95; 0.66-1.36), or TVF (1.00; 0.57-1.78) between immigrants and autochthonous patients. Losses to follow-up were more frequent among immigrants (17.8% vs. 12.1; p=0.009). Sub-Saharan African patients and immigrant females had a significantly shorter TTF. CONCLUSIONS: the response to HAART among immigrant patients was similar to that of autochthonous patients, although they had a higher rate of losses to follow-up. Sub-Saharan Africans and immigrant females may need particular measures to avoid barriers hindering antiviral efficacy.