Private Insurance Linked to Better ART Adherence in Young Adults Born to Women With HIV

Young adults born to women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) differed in antiretroviral (ART) adherence and some health-related quality of life measures by their type of health insurance coverage, according to study findings published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

“While sustained access to health care is essential, little is known about the relationship between insurance coverage and health among people born to women living with HIV,” explained corresponding author Tiffany L. Lemon, MSPH, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and coauthors in the study background.

Researchers gauged differences in health-related quality of life and HIV disease measures using data from prospective cohort studies of youth (Adolescent Master Protocol [AMP]) and young adults (AMP Up/AMP Up Lite) born to women with HIV. Among AMP youth, 669 had insurance, of whom 66% had perinatally-acquired HIV and 72% were Black. Among AMP Up/AMP Up Lite young adults, 939 had insurance, of whom 89% had perinatally-acquired HIV and 68% were Black.

According to the study, 87% of youth and 67% of young adults had public insurance. However, young adults with perinatally-acquired HIV who had private insurance had a lower risk of ART nonadherence (researchers reported an adjusted relative risk of 0.82) compared with young adults with public insurance. Additionally, the risk of suboptimal role functioning was lower for young adults with private insurance; the adjusted relative risk was 0.58. Privately insured young adults also had health perception scores that, after adjustment, averaged 3.87 points higher than those of publicly insured young adults.

“For youth,” researchers reported, “we observed no differences in health-related quality of life and HIV disease measures by insurance.”

Reference:
Lemon TL, Tassiopoulos K, Tsai AC, et al. Health insurance coverage, clinical outcomes, and health-related quality of life among youth born to women living with HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. Published online September 23, 2022. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000003100