Clinic-Level Factors Associated With Time To Antiretroviral Initiation And Viral Suppression In A Large, Urban Cohort

Background. Using the results of a site assessment survey performed at clinics throughout Washington, DC, we studied the impact of clinic-level factors on antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and viral suppression (VS) among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; PLWH).Methods. This was a retrospective analysis from the District of Columbia (DC) Cohort, an observational, clinical cohort of PLWH from 2011-2018. We included data from PLWH not on ART and not virally suppressed at enrollment. Outcomes were ART initiation and VS (HIV RNA < 200 copies/ml.). A clinic survey captured information on care delivery (eg, clinical services, adherence services, patient monitoring services) and clinic characteristics (eg, types of providers, availability of evenings/weekends sessions). Multivariate marginal Cox regression models were generated to identify those factors associated with the time to ART initiation and VS.Results. Multiple clinic-level factors were associated with ART initiation, including retention in care monitoring and medication dispensing reviews (adjusted hazard ratios [aHRs], 1.34 to 1.40; P values < .05 for both). Furthermore, multiple factors were associated with VS, including retention in HIV care monitoring, medication dispensing reviews, and the presence of a peer interventionist (aHRs, 1.35 to 1.72; P values < .05 for all). In multivariable models evaluating different combinations of clinic-level factors, enhanced adherence services (aHR, 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-1.58), medication dispensing reviews (aHR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10-1.36), and the availability of opioid treatment (aHR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.01-1.57) were all associated with the time to VS.Conclusions. The observed association between clinic-level factors and ART initiation/VS suggests that the presence of specific clinic services may facilitate the achievement of HIV treatment goals.