Increased Retention in Care After a Palliative Care Referral Among People Living With HIV

Early palliative care addresses biopsychosocial needs for people living with HIV in an outpatient setting. We sought to describe patients referred to a palliative care program and compare the medical outcomes of emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, primary care visits, and viral load suppression among patients enrolled in the program, to patients who did not enroll (no-show group).

We completed a retrospective cohort study at an urban, academically affiliated HIV primary care clinic.

Data were collected from electronic medical records. Descriptive statistics characterized patient demographics at baseline, comorbidities, and reasons for referral to palliative care. Viral load suppression, rates of ED visits, hospitalizations, primary care visits, and retention in care were compared between the palliative and no-show groups.

The most common reasons for referral were chronic pain management and medication/appointment adherence. Median percent of viral load measurements suppressed increased over time, but did not differ statistically between groups (pre: 28.6% and 15.5%, post: 70.8% and 50.0%, palliative and no-show groups, respectively). Median rates of ED visits and hospitalizations were low and were not impacted by palliative care. Rates of primary care visit attendance remained stable in the palliative group (4.6/year) but declined in the no-show group (3.5/year), P < 0.05. Retention in care improved significantly after the palliative intervention (palliative: 85.4%-96.1%, no-show: 94.4%-82.5%), and at high and low palliative engagement, suggesting a threshold effect of the intervention.

Outpatient early palliative care is a promising intervention that might impact retention in HIV care.