Impact of COVID-19 and Mpox on Sexual Practices and Disease Mitigation Strategies Over Time Among Men Who Have Sex With Men Affiliated With Collective Sex Venues.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent multinational mpox outbreak significantly disrupted sexual health care delivery, particularly impacting men who have sex with men (MSM). This study investigated these public health emergencies in relation to perceptions, attitudes, and sexual practices among MSM affiliated with a collective sex venue (CSV).

Methods: Electronic surveys were sent to clientele of a high-volume CSV between June 2021 and November 2022 across 3 time periods defined as pre-Omicron, post-Omicron, and mpox.

Factors Associated with HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Use Among Transmasculine People Who Have Sex with Cisgender Men, at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Transmasculine individuals who have sex with cisgender men (TMSM) remain an understudied population regarding pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). We used electronic medical record data to assess PrEP eligibility and initiation in TMSM in a large LGBTQ+ focused federally qualified health center in Chicago, Illinois. We examined a sample of 430 TMSM from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019, and used logistic regression to model PrEP eligibility and initiation.

Evolving availability and standardization of patient attributes for matching.

Variation in availability, format, and standardization of patient attributes across health care organizations impacts patient-matching performance. We report on the changing nature of patient-matching features available from 2010-2020 across diverse care settings. We asked 38 health care provider organizations about their current patient attribute data-collection practices.

Bacterial vaginosis testing gaps for transmasculine patients may exacerbate health disparities.

Introduction: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with non-optimal changes in the vaginal microbiome and increased susceptibility to STIs and HIV in cisgender women. Much less is known about the sexual health of transmasculine people and susceptibility to BV, STIs, and HIV. This study's objective was to assess BV testing and outcomes of transmasculine and cisgender women patient populations at a large, LGBTQ + federally qualified health center.

Checkup Visits in Adult Federally Qualified Health Center Patients: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Checkup visits (i.e., general health checks) can increase preventive service completion and lead to improved treatment of new chronic illnesses.

PrEP Persistence Support and Monitoring in Areas of High HIV Burden in the Midwestern United States.

Monitoring pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) metrics can guide service delivery yet does not occur routinely. We developed a survey to understand current practices for monitoring PrEP at PrEP-providing organizations in Illinois and Missouri. The survey was distributed from September through November 2020; 26 organizations participated.

Telemedicine and HIV Care Quality Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was adopted to ensure continuity of HIV care. We examined how introducing televisits affected technical quality of care for people with HIV (PWH) during this time.

Methods: PWH receiving HIV care at Howard Brown Health Centers and Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois were included.

Temporary changes in STI & HIV testing & diagnoses across different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago IL.

Introduction: While the U.S. has seen a sustained rise in STI cases over the past decade, the impact of the COVID-19 on STIs and HIV is unclear.

Intersectionality-informed analysis of durable viral suppression disparities in people with HIV.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine drivers of durable viral suppression (DVS) disparities among people with HIV (PWH) using quantitative intersectional approaches.

Design: A retrospective cohort analysis from electronic health records informed by intersectionality to better capture the concept of interlocking and interacting systems of oppression.

Methods: We analyzed data of PWH seen at a LGBTQ federally qualified health center in Chicago (2012-2019) with at least three viral loads.

Assessing widening disparities in HbA1c and systolic blood pressure retesting during the COVID-19 pandemic in an LGBTQ+-focused federally qualified health center in Chicago: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records.

Introduction: To assess disparities in retesting for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) among people with diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN), respectively, we analyzed medical records from a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer-specialized federally qualified health center with multiple sites in Chicago.

Research Design And Methods: We identified people with DM seen in 2018 and 2019 then assessed if individuals had HbA1c retested the following year (2019 and 2020). We repeated this using SBP for people with HTN.

Association of Cumulative Viral Load With the Incidence of Hypertension and Diabetes in People With HIV.

Background: HIV induces several metabolic derangements that contribute to cardiovascular disease, but it is unclear if HIV increases diabetes or hypertension risk. Refining longitudinal relationships between HIV-specific factors and cardiovascular disease risk factors across different care settings may help inform cardiovascular disease prevention among people with HIV (PWH).

Methods: We tested the hypothesis that long-term higher cumulative viral load (viremia-copy-year) is associated with higher risk of diabetes and hypertension by analyzing electronic records of PWH from 2 distinct health systems in Chicago (Northwestern Medicine and Howard Brown Health Care) receiving care in 2004 to 2019.

Costs of Providing Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention at Community Health Centers in the United States.

Objective: Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is recommended for people at risk of acquiring HIV. We assessed billable costs associated with PrEP delivery at community health centers.

Methods: The Sustainable Health Center Implementation PrEP Pilot (SHIPP) study is an observational cohort of people receiving daily oral PrEP at participating federally qualified health centers and other community health centers.

Race and Sexual Identity Differences in PrEP Continuum Outcomes Among Latino Men in a Large Chicago Area Healthcare Network.

U.S. HIV incidence is threefold higher among Latino individuals than non-Latino Whites.

COVID-19 Testing Results by HIV Status, March-July 2020, Chicago, USA.

The role of HIV in coronavirus disease 2019 acquisition is not yet understood. Among 1862 patients, including 349 people with HIV-with most of these being virally suppressed and 308 having recently used pre-exposure prophylaxis-we compared rates of positive polymerase chain reaction results. Positivity was higher among people with HIV (10.

Long-term HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Trajectories Among Racial & Ethnic Minority Patients: Short, Declining, & Sustained Adherence.

Background: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) requires continued use at an effective dosage to reduce HIV incidence. Data suggest early PrEP drop-off among many populations. We sought to describe PrEP use over the first year among racial and ethnic minority patients in the US.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Conundrums: Insights From the Front Lines.

COVID-19 contact tracing is an induction social network intervention in which the structure of the social network is leveraged to deploy proven COVID-19 interventions such as testing and social distancing. The Howard Brown Health organization has rapidly expanded to include COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and linkage to resources since the first cases were identified in Chicago, Illinois. COVID-19 is penetrating the most vulnerable networks in the United States; existing inequities are widening as community resources and organizations have had to place services on hold.

Embedding a Linkage to Preexposure Prophylaxis Care Intervention in Social Network Strategy and Partner Notification Services: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Increased preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among black men who have sex with men and black transgender women (BMSM/TW) is needed to end the HIV epidemic. Embedding a brief intervention in network services that engage individuals in HIV transmission networks for HIV/ sexually transmitted infections testing may be an important strategy to accelerate PrEP uptake.

Setting: Partner Services PrEP study is a pilot, randomized, control trial to improve linkage to PrEP care among BMSM/TW presenting for network services in Chicago, IL, from 2015 to 2017.

A taxonomy of pragmatic measures of HIV preexposure prophylaxis use.

Objectives: As delivery of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) becomes an HIV prevention priority in the United States, standard, pragmatic measures of PrEP use are needed to compare and evaluate prevention implementation programs. By using readily available electronic health record data, we describe and compare measures of persistence and retention.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

An Observational Study of Hypertension and Thromboembolism Among Transgender Patients Using Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy.

Given evidence from cisgender patients that sex hormones can impact risk for some forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD), there are concerns regarding CVD among transgender patients using gender-affirming hormone therapy (HT). Using a retrospective cohort at a U.S.

Correlations of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Indications and Uptake, Chicago, Illinois, 2015-2018.

To examine gaps in identification of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) candidates, uptake, and use of PrEP by populations most likely to seroconvert. At a federally qualified health center in Chicago, Illinois, we used electronic medical records, prescription data, and our best approximation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention PrEP guidelines to determine how many patients were indicated for PrEP relative to HIV diagnoses (indication:HIV), how many were on PrEP relative to indications (PrEP:indication), and how many were on PrEP relative to HIV diagnoses (PrEP:HIV). We compared these ratios across age, gender and orientation, race/ethnicity, and insurance.

Preexposure Prophylaxis Initiation and Retention in Care Over 5 Years, 2012-2017: Are Quarterly Visits Too Much?

Retention in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care is critical to elimination of human immunodeficiency virus. We reviewed all Howard Brown Health patients receiving PrEP (n = 5583) from 2012 to 2017. Among those with 12 months of follow-up, 43% remained in care, yet only 15% had all 4 quarters with a PrEP visit.

Association between eye diagnosis and positive syphilis test results in a large, urban sexually transmitted infection/primary care clinic population.

In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) released clinical advisories on rising cases of ocular syphilis. We examined the association between eye disease and syphilis infection among primary care and sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic patients attending an urban lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) health center. We conducted a retrospective medical record review of all patients who underwent syphilis testing at Howard Brown Health between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015.

Seroprevalence for Hepatitis E and Other Viral Hepatitides among Diverse Populations, Malawi.

Data on prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Malawi is limited. We tested blood samples from HIV-uninfected and -infected populations of women and men enrolled in research studies in Malawi during 1989-2008 to determine the seroprevalence of HEV, hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Samples were tested for IgG against HEV, total antibodies against HAV and HCV, and presence of HBV surface antigens.