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Table 2 Annual rates of viral load testing and proportions of participants with gaps in testing by baseline demographic and clinical characteristics

From: Regional differences in rates of HIV-1 viral load monitoring in Canada: Insights and implications for antiretroviral care in high income countries

  

annual rate of VL testing

Subjects having ≥ 1 gap of >9 months

Subjects having ≥ 1 gap of >6 months

Characteristics

N

median (IQR)

p value

# (%)

p value

# (%)

p value

Overall

3648

4.3 (3.4-5.5)

 

943 (26%)

 

1848 (51%)

 

Region

       

   BC

1674

4.9 (3.8-6.3)

< .0001

347 (21%)

< .0001

672 (40%)

< .0001

   Ontario

1143

3.9 (3.1-4.8)

 

357 (31%)

 

699 (61%)

 

   Quebec

831

4.0 (3.2-4.8)

 

239 (29%)

 

477 (57%)

 

Age (years)

       

   ≤ 40

1942

4.1 (3.2-5.3)

< .0001

614 (32%)

< .0001

1122 (58%)

< .0001

   > 40

1706

4.5 (3.6-5.8)

 

329 (19%)

 

726 (43%)

 

Gender

       

   Female

723

3.9 (3.1-5.0)

< .0001

255 (35%)

< .0001

475 (66%)

< .0001

   Male

2925

4.4 (3.5-5.7)

 

688 (24%)

 

1373 (47%)

 

Caucasian

       

   No

855

4.4 (3.4-5.7)

0.33

255 (30%)

0.04

463 (54%)

< .001

   Yes

956

4.4 (3.4-5.9)

 

244 (26%)

 

439 (46%)

 

Risk Factor

       

   IDU

632

4.0 (3.0-5.1)

< .0001

247 (39%)

< .0001

417 (66%)

< .0001

   MSM

976

4.3 (3.5-5.4)

 

186 (19%)

 

421 (43%)

 

   Blood product recipient

32

4.1 (3.5-5.1)

 

8 (25%)

 

18 (56%)

 

   Endemic

209

4.1 (3.4-4.8)

 

60 (29%)

 

128 (61%)

 

   Heterosexual contact

245

4.2 (3.4-5.7)

 

64 (26%)

 

135 (55%)

 

   Not reported/Other

1554

4.5 (3.4-5.8)

 

378 (24%)

 

729 (47%)

 

AIDS defining illness

       

   No

3167

4.2 (3.3-5.5)

< .0001

858 (27%)

< .0001

1641 (52%)

< .001

   Yes

481

4.7 (3.8-5.9)

 

85 (18%)

 

207 (43%)

 

Type of cART

       

   NNRTI-based

1586

4.1 (3.2-5.0)

< .0001

425 (27%)

< .0001

874 (55%)

< .0001

   Boosted PI-based

1433

5.0 (3.7-6.5)

 

292 (20%)

 

573 (40%)

 

   Single PI-based

384

4.0 (3.1-4.9)

 

149 (39%)

 

256 (67%)

 

   Other cART

245

3.9 (3.2-4.7)

 

77 (31%)

 

145 (59%)

 

Year of initiating cART

       

   2000

482

3.7 (2.8-4.7)

< .0001

219 (45%)

< .0001

346 (72%)

< .0001

   2001-2004

2036

4.2 (3.3-5.3)

 

599 (29%)

 

1132 (56%)

 

   >2004

1130

4.9 (3.9-6.4)

 

125 (11%)

 

370 (33%)

 

CD4 count

       

   < 200 cells/mm3

1921

4.4 (3.4-5.7)

< .0001

474 (25%)

< .001

941 (49%)

< .0001

   200 - 350 cells/mm3

1175

4.3 (3.4-5.5)

 

286 (24%)

 

560 (48%)

 

   > 350 cells/mm3

544

4.1 (3.0-5.2)

 

181 (33%)

 

341 (63%)

 

VL (copies/mL)

       

   ≥ 50

3509

4.3 (3.4-5.6)

< .001

905 (26%)

0.68

1770 (50%)

0.19

   < 50

139

3.9 (2.9-4.8)

 

38 (27%)

 

78 (56%)

 

Hepatitis C Co-infection

       

   No

1712

4.4 (3.6-5.6)

< .0001

346 (20%)

< .0001

756 (44%)

< .0001

   Yes

736

4.1 (3.0-5.3)

 

281 (38%)

 

473 (64%)

 
  1. MSM = men who have sex with men, IDU = injection drug use, cART = combination antiretroviral therapy, NNRTI = non nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, PI = protease inhibitor.
  2. † Risk factors were grouped hierarchically for comparison purposes: IDU, MSM, blood product recipient, origin/residence in an HIV-endemic area, heterosexual transmission
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BMC Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1471-2334

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