The HIV Care Cascade Before, During, and After Incarceration: A Systematic Review and Data Synthesis

Overview

Journal Am J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2015 May 15

PMID 25973818

Citations 142

Authors

Princess A Iroh

Helen Mayo

Ank E Nijhawan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We conducted a systematic literature review of the data on HIV testing, engagement in care, and treatment in incarcerated persons, and estimated the care cascade in this group. We identified 2706 titles in MEDLINE, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library databases for studies indexed to January 13, 2015, and included 92 for analysis. We summarized HIV testing results by type (blinded, opt-out, voluntary); reviewed studies on HIV care engagement, treatment, and virological suppression; and synthesized these results into an HIV care cascade before, during, and after incarceration. The HIV care cascade following diagnosis increased during incarceration and declined substantially after release, often to levels lower than before incarceration. Incarceration provides an opportunity to address HIV care in hard-to-reach individuals, though new interventions are needed to improve postrelease care continuity.

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