Eun Lee, PhD, PharmD¹, Monika N. Daftary, PharmD¹, Zhenyi Xue, MS¹, Anthony K. Wutoh, PhD¹, and Ilene Zuckerman, PharmD². (1) Clinical & Administrative Pharmacy Sciences, Howard University, 2300 4th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059, 202-806-4919, eunlee@howard.edu, (2) Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, 515 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Background: Although several national level databases have been used to assess the utilization of medical care in various disease states, a limited number of studies have evaluated the patterns of HIV/AIDS care. Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted to describe recent national patterns of antiretroviral drug use and alternative care among HIV or AIDS patients in the United States. An analysis of 4 years of Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data (1996-1999), a national representative survey was completed. An estimated national prevalence of HIV or AIDS patients was presented by gender, age, race, source of payment, and region. HIV or AIDS status was determined by diagnosis (ICD9 of 042) and/or more than one antiretroviral prescription. Results:The overall 4-year prevalence of HIV or AIDS was 0.1% (95% CI: 0.08% - 0.13%) and the estimated annual number of HIV or AIDS patients was 1,119,539 (95% CI: 958,837 - 1,280,241). The mean age for HIV patients was 42.0 (95% CI: 40.2 - 43.7). A higher proportion of males was observed in the HIV population as compared to the non-HIV population (66.1% vs.48.8%; p<0.001). There were also differences in the sources of payment between the HIV and non-HIV patient populations (p<0.001): 37.7% vs.73.2% had private insurance, 50.3% vs.15% had public insurance and 11.9% vs.11.8% had no insurance, respectively.About 21.0% of the HIV patients did not report any antiretroviral drug utilization, and 18.0% received monotherapy. The HIV patients tend to use more alternative therapies compared with non-HIV patients; however, the difference was not significant. Conclusion:Our findings of the national prevalence is similar to data on national surveillance statistics for HIV or AIDS, suggesting that analyses of multi-year national databases including MEPS can provide effective ways to evaluate treatment and practice patterns in rare diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

1.To examine the usefulness of MEPS in the analysis of HIV specific data.
• To examine the prevalence of HIV or AIDS that can be captured in the MEPS database similar to what is reported in the general population.
• To examine the utilization patterns of antiretroviral drugs in patients based upon usual source of payment.
• To examine the utilization patterns of antiretroviral drugs between 1996-1999.
• To examine utilization patterns of complementary/alternative therapies between HIV patients and non-HIV patients in the MEPS database.

Keywords: Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: This project was supported by grant number 1 R24 HS11673 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.