Antiretroviral therapy (ART) prescription rates among Medicare enrollees living with HIV increased from 2007 to 2019. Although age-based disparities had reduced, women and both younger and older people had lower ART rates.
"Increasing ART use with reductions in disparities over time is encouraging and likely reflects the introduction of ART with fewer side effects and drug interactions and the embracing of recommendations for universal ART," the authors wrote.
This study was led by Xiaoying Yu, PhD, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas. It was published online on November 25, 2024, in HIV Medicine.
People living with HIV who could receive ART outside Medicare were not included. The analysis used claims-based diagnoses that lacked detailed clinical, psychological, or behavioral information that could account for confounding factors. Lastly, as this study used a binary definition of sex, the transgender population could not be studied.
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health/Office of the Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. No conflicts of interest were reported.