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NLM AIDSLINE

Outpatient medical care of injection drug use related HIV.




 

Int J STD AIDS. 1992 Mar-Apr;3(2):96-100. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE

By the end of March 1990 470 HIV positive patients, 77% injection drug use (IDU) related, had attended the outpatient department of the Regional Infectious Disease Unit with a cumulative loss to follow-up of only 20%. Coincident with the prescribing of oral methadone and a specific all-day IDU-related HIV medical clinic the total number of appointments increased from 28/month in May 1986 to 300/month in May 1989 (P less than 0.001) and the number of defaulted appointments decreased from a maximum of 60% (17/28) to 16% (48/294, P less than 0.001) in these months. There was a significant initial increase in the number of defaulted appointments for the infectious disease (ID) clinics from 11% (77/726) to 16% (124/797, P less than 0.01) which returned to previous levels once a specific IDU-related HIV clinic was established. There was also a significant decline in the number of new patients referred which was greater for the urinary tract infection clinics (108 to 56 per 6 months, P less than 0.0001) than for the ID clinics (119 to 88 per 6 months, P less than 0.05).

Adolescence Adult Female Health Services Research Hospitals, Urban Human HIV Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/ETIOLOGY/*THERAPY *HIV-1 Male Methadone/THERAPEUTIC USE Middle Age Organizational Objectives Outpatient Clinics, Hospital/ORGANIZATION & ADMIN/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA/*STANDARDS Patient Dropouts/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA Referral and Consultation/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA Retrospective Studies Scotland/EPIDEMIOLOGY Substance Abuse Treatment Centers/ORGANIZATION & ADMIN/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA/*STANDARDS Substance Abuse, Intravenous/*COMPLICATIONS/DRUG THERAPY/ EPIDEMIOLOGY Support, Non-U.S. Gov't JOURNAL ARTICLE



 




Information in this article was accurate in August 30, 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.