Who is lost to follow-up in HIV care? Assessment of care retention over time and the impact of COVID-19. Longitudinal analysis of the PISCIS cohort.

Introduction: People living with HIV who are lost to follow-up have a greater risk of health deterioration, mortality, and community transmission.

Objective: Our aim was to analyse both how rates of loss to follow-up (LTFU) changed between 2006 and 2020 and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected these rates in the PISCIS cohort study of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

Methods: We analysed socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of LTFU yearly and with adjusted odds ratios to assess the impact of these determinants on LTFU in 2020 (the year of COVID-19).