Outpatient follow-up in women with HIV infection in Parkside Health Authority (UK).

OBJECTIVE--To describe patterns of attendance for follow-up among HIV infected women in Parkside, UK and their correlates. DESIGN--Retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS--103 HIV infected women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Whether patients attended for follow-up between three and 18 months. RESULTS--31% of women were married and 46% had children. Women born in sub-Saharan Africa were significantly less likely to attend for follow-up after three months (56%) than women born in other areas who had acquired HIV either heterosexually (82%) or through injecting drug use (81%). This pattern persisted on multivariate analysis controlling for whether women were symptomatic, had had a previous positive test, were married or had children. CONCLUSIONS--HIV positive sub-Saharan African women are less likely to reattend for follow-up than women with heterosexually acquired HIV from other areas or those who acquired infection through intravenous drug use. Further studies are needed to identify barriers to follow-up for women and to shape the development of more appropriate and accessible services for HIV infected women, especially those of sub-Saharan African origin.