Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Should Human Immunodeficiency Virus Specialty Clinics Treat Patients With Hypertension or Refer to Primary Care? An Analysis of Treatment Outcomes.

Appenheimer AB, Bokhour B, McInnes DK, Richardson KK, Thurman AL, Beck BF, Vaughan-Sarrazin M, Asch SM, Midboe AM, Taylor T, Dvorin K, Gifford AL, Ohl ME. Should Human Immunodeficiency Virus Specialty Clinics Treat Patients With Hypertension or Refer to Primary Care? An Analysis of Treatment Outcomes. Open forum infectious diseases. 2017 Feb 3; 4(1):ofx005.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Care for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increasingly focuses on comorbidities, including hypertension. Evidence indicates that antiretroviral therapy and opportunistic infections are best managed by providers experienced in HIV medicine, but it is unclear how to structure comorbidity care. Approaches include providing comorbidity care in HIV clinics ("consolidated care") or combining HIV care with comorbidity management in primary care clinics ("shared care"). We compared blood pressure (BP) control in HIV clinics practicing consolidated care versus shared care. METHODS: We created a national cohort of Veterans with HIV and hypertension receiving care in HIV clinics in Veterans Administration facilities and merged these data with a survey asking HIV providers how they delivered hypertension care (5794 Veterans in 73 clinics). We defined BP control as BP 140/90 mmHg on the most recent measure. We compared patients' likelihood of experiencing BP control in clinics offering consolidated versus shared care, adjusting for patient and clinic characteristics. RESULTS: Forty-two of 73 clinics (57.5%) practiced consolidated care for hypertension. These clinics were larger and more likely to use multidisciplinary teams. The unadjusted frequency of BP control was 65.6% in consolidated care clinics vs 59.4% in shared care clinics (P < .01). The likelihood of BP control remained higher for patients in consolidated care clinics after adjusting for patient and clinic characteristics (odds ratio, 1.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.68). CONCLUSIONS: Patients were more likely to experience BP control in clinics reporting consolidated care compared with clinics reporting shared care. For shared-care clinics, improving care coordination between HIV and primary care clinics may improve outcomes.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.