The effect of driving distance from medical treatment facility and short-term management outcomes in Department of Defense beneficiaries newly diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus

Access to experienced providers is an important part of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome management, especially for patients who are just starting a new or complicated treatment regimen. To date, few studies have addressed the potential barrier of geographic distance in access to care in the HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome population. We performed a retrospective study examining the effects of driving distance from a major Naval medical treatment facility on clinical outcomes for Department of Defense beneficiaries recently diagnosed with HIV. The outcomes studied include attainment of undetectable HIV-1 RNA levels and change in mean CD4⁺ T cell counts 6 months after initiation of management in 132 Department of Defense beneficiaries. We found no significant associations between distance from a major medical treatment facility and these clinical outcomes through 6 months of follow-up. These findings suggest that stationing HIV-infected military personnel far from major Medical Treatment Facility does not interfere with initial successful HIV management.