Characteristics of older adults living with HIV accessing home and community care services in British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over half of people living with HIV (PLHIV) engaged in care in British Columbia (BC) are age ≥50. The public home and community care (HCC) system offers formal support that PLHIV may turn to as they age, but little is known about access specific to PLHIV. Using data from the STOP HIV/AIDS cohort, which includes linked treatment and demographic records for PLHIV accessing care in BC, we compared older PLHIV (defined as those age ≥50) who did and did not access HCC services. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for factors associated with HCC service utilization using logistic regression. This study included 5,603 PLHIV age ≥50, 837 (14.94%) of whom accessed any HCC service between 2005 and 2015. Services most commonly used were community nursing (8.98%, n = 503) and rehabilitation (7.73%, n = 433). Those who received HCC were more likely to be female (aOR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.24, 1.98), have a history of injection drug use (aOR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.57, 2.25), have a higher Charlson comorbidity score (aOR = 1.11, 95% CI:1.07, 1.15) and to have visited a general practitioner in the past year (aOR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.77, 2.67). Approximately 15% of older PLHIV have accessed HCC, but the extent of potential unmet need for these services requires further research.