Trends in use of health care and HIV prevention services for persons who inject drugs in San Francisco: results from National HIV Behavioral Surveillance 2005-2012

Background: Multiple developments addressing health of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in San Francisco were initiated from 2003 to 2012, including expanded health care coverage, syringe access, HIV testing and universal HIV treatment.

Methods: We evaluated 3 PWID cycles of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance for several healthcare measures related to the expanded services. Using RDSAT estimators, we applied the Cochran-Armitage test for trend to evaluate signals of improvement during the time in which health system changes were made.

Results: Participant demographics were similar (n=565, 535, and 570 in 2005, 2009, and 2012, respectively). There was a substantial increase in healthcare coverage (37.6 to 82.5%, P<0.0001). Obtaining syringes from pharmacies (17.8 to 32.1%, P<0.0001) increased substantially. Past year hepatitis C testing increased (16.5 to 33.1%, P<0.0001) with stable self-reported prevalence (45.7-54.2%, P=0.8). Among those with known HIV, antiretroviral treatment was reported among 46.6% in 2005 and 66.3% in 2012. Past year HIV testing declined from 74.2 to 42.1%, (P<0.0001) and the prevalence of unrecognized HIV among PWIDs was 42.2-42.7% in 2009 and 2012.

Conclusions: There is evidence of improvement in some health measures for PWIDs in San Francisco from 2005 to 2012. However, there are also some concerning findings, such as declining prevalence of HIV testing and high prevalence of undiagnosed HIV. There is a need for renewed attention and innovative ideas to track and address HIV and other medical sequelae among PWIDs.