title: Outpatient follow-up in women with HIV infection in Parkside Health Authority (UK).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe patterns of attendance for follow-up among HIV infected women in Parkside, UK and their correlates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  103 HIV infected women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Whether patients attended for follow-up between three and 18 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  31% of women were married and 46% had children. Women born in sub-Saharan Africa were significantly less likely to attend for follow-up after three months (56%) than women born in other areas who had acquired HIV either heterosexually (82%) or through injecting drug use (81%). This pattern persisted on multivariate analysis controlling for whether women were symptomatic, had had a previous positive test, were married or had children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIV positive sub-Saharan African women are less likely to reattend for follow-up than women with heterosexually acquired HIV from other areas or those who acquired infection through intravenous drug use. Further studies are needed to identify barriers to follow-up for women and to shape the development of more appropriate and accessible services for HIV infected women, especially those of sub-Saharan African origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genitourinary Medicine and Communicable Diseases, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Horner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Coker
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crowley
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Renton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012189:Retrospective Studies