Identifying the Social Determinants and the Challenges of Viral Suppression Among Adults with HIV in Macon, Georgia
Abstract
Background: As of 2020, there were 30,635 new HIV diagnoses in the United States with about 51% in the Southern region. Georgia has the highest rates of new cases with 24.7 per 100,000 and is considered the number one in the country for new infections, majority localized in Atlanta. Most of the infections occurs in the Black/African American population, representing 72% of new cases. In 2020, North Central Georgia in Macon (District 5-2) had a total of 2,332 living with HIV with 83 new cases. With the advent of antiretroviral treatments, the number of cases of HIV/AIDS had considerably decreased in the past 30 years, suppressing the virus at such levels that they are considered undetected. This process of taking ART and achieving an undetectable status will prevent the spread of HIV and is referred to as treatment as prevention. Unfortunately, having our patients to be virally suppressed has proven to be a difficulty endeavor.
Methods: Baseline data and information was collected from current patients that were not virally suppressed (viral load >200 copies/mL) from the eClinical EMR and a fishbone diagram was utilized to provide root causes of low viral suppression among the patients.
Results: The current issues regarding our patients living with HIV in our community are mostly social issues such as access to insurance (20%), poor stable housing (16%), mental health issues (16%), and poor transportation (8%).
Conclusion: The information collected will help better serve our patients to continue the fight against the spread of HIV. The information gathered provides a foundation for the next step in addressing these issues.
Keywords
HIV, AIDS, Social Determinants, viral suppression, epidemic
Identifying the Social Determinants and the Challenges of Viral Suppression Among Adults with HIV in Macon, Georgia
Background: As of 2020, there were 30,635 new HIV diagnoses in the United States with about 51% in the Southern region. Georgia has the highest rates of new cases with 24.7 per 100,000 and is considered the number one in the country for new infections, majority localized in Atlanta. Most of the infections occurs in the Black/African American population, representing 72% of new cases. In 2020, North Central Georgia in Macon (District 5-2) had a total of 2,332 living with HIV with 83 new cases. With the advent of antiretroviral treatments, the number of cases of HIV/AIDS had considerably decreased in the past 30 years, suppressing the virus at such levels that they are considered undetected. This process of taking ART and achieving an undetectable status will prevent the spread of HIV and is referred to as treatment as prevention. Unfortunately, having our patients to be virally suppressed has proven to be a difficulty endeavor.
Methods: Baseline data and information was collected from current patients that were not virally suppressed (viral load >200 copies/mL) from the eClinical EMR and a fishbone diagram was utilized to provide root causes of low viral suppression among the patients.
Results: The current issues regarding our patients living with HIV in our community are mostly social issues such as access to insurance (20%), poor stable housing (16%), mental health issues (16%), and poor transportation (8%).
Conclusion: The information collected will help better serve our patients to continue the fight against the spread of HIV. The information gathered provides a foundation for the next step in addressing these issues.
