Increased uptake of early initiation of antiretroviral therapy and baseline drug resistance testing in San Francisco between 2001 and 2015

BACKGROUND: Early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (eiART) can improve clinical outcomes for persons with HIV and reduce onward transmission risk. Baseline drug resistance testing (bDRT) can inform regimen selection upon subsequent treatment initiation. We examined the uptake of eiART and bDRT within 3 months and 30 days of HIV diagnosis. METHODS: We analyzed a population-based sample from the San Francisco Department of Public Health HIV/AIDS Case Registry of newly-diagnosed HIV/non-AIDS individuals between 2001 and 2015 who received care at publicly-funded facilities (N = 3,124). RESULTS: Uptake of eiART within 3 months of diagnosis increased significantly from 2001 to 2015 (p<0.001), peaking at 74% in 2015. bDRT uptake also increased significantly (p<0.001), peaking at 55% in 2012. eiART uptake was observed to be significantly associated with gender, age, race/ethnicity and transmission risk. There were no significant differences observed in demographic and risk characteristics of persons receiving bDRT in the more recent years. Of 990 persons diagnosed between 2010 and 2015, eiART uptake within 30 days of diagnosis increased from 13% to 38% (p<0.001); bDRT uptake increased from 35% to 39% but the change was not significant (p = 0.141). CONCLUSIONS: Observed increases in eiART and bDRT uptake from 2010 to 2015 may reflect the adoption of treatment as prevention and a local public health policy statement in 2010 recommending treatment initiation at time of diagnosis irrespective of CD4 count. Concerns about stigma may underlie disparities in eiART, however such concerns would not bear as directly on a provider-initiated laboratory test like bDRT.