Provider Experience Affects Survival of Women With AIDS

A study, reported in the March 5 issue of the journal AIDS, indicates that HIV-positive women have a 50 percent increased survival rate if they receive care at an experienced clinic instead of one with less HIV experience. Dr. Christine Laine of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA, and colleagues examined the survival time of 887 HIV-positive women who visited 117 clinics in New York. The researchers found that 71 percent of patients enrolled in high-experience clinics were still alive 21 months after diagnosis, compared to 53 percent of those treated at less-experienced clinics. The researchers also found that survival correlated positively with methadone treatment and pregnancy.

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