Testing for comorbid conditions among people with HIV in medical care

People living with HIV (PLWH) are frequently affected by comorbid medical conditions. Despite the importance of diagnosing and treating these conditions, testing rates for common comorbidities often fall short of primary care recommendations for PLWH. Clinical care data were obtained from the 2012 New York City (NYC) Medical Monitoring Project (MMP), a multi-site surveillance project that includes demographically representative cohorts of PLWH receiving medical care. Medical record abstraction data were analyzed to determine testing frequencies for potential comorbid conditions, including tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, diabetes, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, and to assess demographic, behavioral, and clinical factors associated with testing. Among the NYC MMP cohort (N = 439), testing frequencies ranged from 18% for hepatitis B to 66% for diabetes in a 12-month period. In multivariate analyses, having three or more medical visits with a CD4 or HIV viral load test over 12 months was significantly associated with sexually transmitted infection (STI) and hepatitis C testing. Compared with Black PLWH, Latino/Hispanics were more likely to be tested for hepatitis C and Whites were less likely to be tested for diabetes. Self-reported sexual risk behaviors were not associated with testing for STI, and history of injection drug use was not associated with testing for hepatitis C. These results indicate a need for improved risk assessment, adherence to clinical guidelines, and integration of primary care services with HIV care.