Coordination of care for people living with HIV in the prison system

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the care coordination for people living with HIV according to the prison unit. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in six prison units in the state of São Paulo. Eighty-five inmates living with HIV and six technical directors were interviewed. Coordination indicators were created from questions with a 1-5 scale and classified as satisfactory (>3.5 to 5.0), regular (>2.5 to 3.5) and unsatisfactory (1.0 to 2.5). ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis were used. Results: The coordination was classified as unsatisfactory (mean 2.49). Unsatisfactory indicators: “Questioning side effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART)”; “Questioning the difficulties in ART intake”; “Observing ART intake”; “Requesting ART bottles/packages to monitor medication intake”; “Asking for explanations regarding the use of ART”; “Questioning the storage conditions of ART in the prison cell”; “Informing and discussing T-CD4 + and viral loading results”; “Informing the scheduling of consultation at the HIV reference service” and “Take to care for other medical specialties”. The following obtained regular classification: “Take to emergency medical care when needed” and “Not missing an appointment at the HIV reference service”. “Questioning the regularity of the use of ART” was the single worst indicator evaluated in the comparison between the prison units studied (p<0.05). Conclusion: The performance of prison units does not differ in relation to most coordination indicators studied, which shows the need for improving the performance with regard to the development of actions to monitor the use of ART, inform and discuss test results with inmates and take them to care outside the prison unit.