Initial HIV regimens often don't meet guidelines

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A review of antiretroviral treatment (ART) regimens initiated in HIV-infected women revealed that nearly half of the regimens were either not specifically recommended for initial ART or were in fact against US HIV treatment guidelines.

University of California at San Francisco investigators, led by Dr. Jennifer Cocohoba, evaluated initial ART regimens given to 217 ART treatment-naïve women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Their findings were unexpected, Cocohoba and colleagues note in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

Only 53 percent of the women reported use of ART consistent with the US HIV treatment guidelines, they report.

Treatment that was counter to the guidelines was prescribed for 17 percent and another 30 percent of the women were on a treatment regimen that was not listed in the guidelines.

"As the epidemic affects increasingly diverse and geographically dispersed patient groups and therapeutic choices continue to increase, the generation of HIV expert practice guidelines and promotion of their use are important means of ensuring quality of care and minimizing acquired drug resistance," Cocohoba and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, March 1, 2008.