Assessing the Disruption of Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Adults Living With HIV by Age in Essex County, NJ: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians and researchers were concerned about its impact on the health of people living with HIV (PLWH). Although mitigation measures during the early part of the pandemic used telehealth, it was uncertain whether PLWH would be amenable to this type of care and whether health outcomes would be affected. PLWH actively seeking treatment at a large urban outpatient practice in Essex County, New Jersey, were interviewed from October 2020 to June 2021 about their health-related experiences during COVID-19. The sample was dichotomized by age (< 55 and ≤ 55). In all, participants (69.2%, n = 92) used telehealth during this period, 85.0% (n = 113) actively tested for COVID-19, with only 7% (n = 8) testing positive at the time of interview. Our findings demonstrate that PLWH who engaged with health care before the COVID-19 pandemic continued doing that and had relatively favorable health outcomes with few differences by age.