Caring for youth living with HIV across the continuum: turning gaps into opportunities

With the increasing proportion of youth living with human immunodeficiency virus (YLHIV) and the aging of the perinatally infected population, there is a need for clinical services that are "youth friendly" to address the multiple challenges YLHIV face in terms of engagement in care and maintenance of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Little is known about how and where YLHIV receive their care. Further, the impact of the care structure on engagement and retention outcomes for YLHIV is ill defined. In order to better classify how YLHIV receive care in the United States, we performed a review of published literature characterizing the structure and outcomes of care for YLHIV. Several key concepts emerged: 1. The majority of YLHIV (13-24 years old) are cared for at adult sites, 2. Clinics providing care to YLHIV are varied in terms of the services offered and the types of services offered can impact outcomes, 3. YLHIV cared for in adult clinical sites have poor retention and antiretroviral treatment initiation, and 4. YLHIV cared for at adult sites had poorer retention and cART outcomes compared to YLHIV cared for at pediatric sites. There were no studies identified that specifically examined "youth friendly" care for YLHIV within the context of adult clinical sites. The results of this review highlight disparities for YLHIV and the need for interventions to improve outcomes for YLHIV in the context of adult care.