Predictors of missed HIV screening opportunities among newly diagnosed individuals at an urban medical center in New York City, 2018–2022

by Jeffrey Paer, Judy Ratcliffe, Michelle Chang, Caroline Carnevale, Daniela Quigee, Peter Gordon, Susan Olender, Magdalena E. Sobieszczyk, Jason Zucker

To identify demographic and clinical factors predictive of having a missed opportunity (MO) for HIV screening.

Retrospective cohort study.

Electronic medical records were queried for individuals newly diagnosed with HIV in different sites within a large urban academic medical center in New York City between 2018 and 2022. The primary outcome was having one or more MO for HIV screening within the institution, defined as any encounter at which screening was not performed in the 365 days preceding the HIV diagnosis.

Over one third of new diagnoses had at least one MO in the preceding year. Older individuals, cisgender women and those assigned female sex at birth, and heterosexual individuals were more likely to have at least one MO. An initial CD4 < 200 cells/ul was more likely among men who have sex with women specifically. Most MOs occurred in the emergency department and outpatient settings, with minimal HIV prevention discussions documented during each MO.

These findings suggest that populations perceived to be at lower risk for HIV are more likely to have MOs and possibly late diagnoses, and that universal HIV screening must be implemented into the workflows of emergency department and outpatient settings to facilitate early diagnosis and reduce the incidence of HIV.