Neighborhood social cohesion and viral suppression after HIV diagnosis

Abstract

Social cohesion has varying effects on health. We investigated the association of perceived neighborhood social cohesion with HIV viral suppression using individual-level data from the New York City HIV registry and surveillance-based interviews ( n = 92). Suppression was achieved within 12 months of HIV diagnosis by 60 percent of persons perceiving low cohesion and 71 percent of those perceiving high ( p = 0.31). Controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics and neighborhood poverty, per proportional hazards regression, cohesion was not associated with suppression (adjusted hazards ratio (95% confidence interval) for high versus low cohesion: 0.79 (0.49–1.28)). Cohesion may have heterogeneous effects on HIV medication adherence.