Publications by authors named "Terri G Stephens"
Objectives: To assess the time from linkage to care and viro-immunologic parameters before and after implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2006 revised human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing strategy.
Methods: Case reports from South Carolina's enhanced HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) Reporting System were used to compare time to linkage to care and viro-immunologic indicators at diagnosis and 1 year after diagnosis of HIV in individuals diagnosed between 2004 and 2006 (n = 2456) with those diagnosed between 2008 and 2010 (n = 2118). CD4 T-cell count/percent and viral load tests were used as a proxy for a clinical visit and to determine disease stage.
Background: Prompt linkage to HIV primary care may reduce the need for inpatient hospitalization.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study of South Carolina HIV-infected individuals diagnosed from January 1986 to December 2006 who utilized 62 inpatient facilities from (January 2007 to June 2010). Suboptimal primary care engagement was defined as <2 reports of a CD4T-cell count or viral load value to surveillance in each calendar year from January 2007 to June 2010.
Objective: To investigate opportunities for early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing of women.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study design linked case reports from HIV surveillance to several statewide health-care databases. Medical encounters occurring before the first positive HIV test (missed opportunities) were categorized by diagnosis/procedure codes to distinguish visits that were likely to have prompted an HIV test.