title: As good as it gets? Retention in care of people newly diagnosed with HIV at the Sydney Sexual Health Centre.
abstract: A retrospective review of all new HIV positive patients attending the Sydney Sexual Health Centre in 2012 and 2013 was performed to ascertain the retention in care rates, proportion that achieved viral suppression, number of SMS reminders sent and counselling uptake. Ninety-six patients had a retention rate of 66%. Thirty-three patients (34%) were not retained in care, 16 (17%) were knowingly attending another healthcare service with 17 (18%) categorised as lost to follow up. Counselling referrals had a 74% (71/96) uptake (95%CI: 5.08-69.69, P<0.001), with SMS reminders sent in 97% (93/96) of cases (95%CI: not possible with zero count cells, P=0.038). Overall, the clinic performed well compared with international standards but the lost to follow-up rate remains a concern.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Nightingale Wing, Sydney Hospital, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rowley
authors.affiliation: Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Nightingale Wing, Sydney Hospital, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Amel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Nightingale Wing, Sydney Hospital, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McNulty
authors.affiliation: Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Nightingale Wing, Sydney Hospital, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wray
authors.affiliation: Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Nightingale Wing, Sydney Hospital, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Vickie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Knight
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D017010:Reminder Systems; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D000074384:Sexual Health