Integrating HIV prevention services into care settings for people with opioid use disorder (OUD): a study protocol...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Implementation Science

Background:

• Overlapping opioid use disorder (OUD) and HIV epidemics pose a significant public health challenge.
• Low uptake of HIV prevention services like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among people with OUD highlights a critical care gap.
• Scalable, evidence-based strategies are needed to integrate HIV prevention into routine OUD care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify healthcare engagement patterns and HIV prevention service delivery gaps among people with OUD.
• To co-develop tailored implementation strategies for HIV prevention across various care settings.
• To simulate the population-level impact of these strategies using an agent-based model.

Main Methods:

• Utilize claims and emergency department data (2012-2022) to analyze HIV prevention and OUD treatment uptake.
• Convene stakeholder-engaged quality improvement panels to co-develop implementation strategies.
• Develop an agent-based model (ABM) to project population-level HIV outcomes and strategy impact.

Main Results:

• Analysis of healthcare data will reveal specific gaps in HIV screening, PrEP use, and OUD treatment.
• Stakeholder input will yield context-specific, evidence-based implementation strategies.
• The ABM will provide projections on HIV incidence, cases averted, and number needed to treat (NNT).

Conclusions:

• This study integrates data analysis, quality improvement, and modeling to address HIV prevention gaps in OUD care.
• Actionable, setting-tailored strategies will be generated through stakeholder engagement and real-world data.
• Findings will guide future implementation efforts in Rhode Island and similar jurisdictions.