Provider-patient experiences and HIV care utilization among people living with HIV who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia

Abstract Background Providers’ disrespect and abuse of patients is a recognized but understudied issue affecting quality of care and likely affecting healthcare utilization. Little research has examined this issue among people living with HIV (PWH) who inject drugs, despite high stigmatization of this population. No research has examined this issue in the context of Russia. This study assesses patients’ reports of disrespect and abuse from providers as a barrier to healthcare and examines the association between these reports and HIV care outcomes. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the associations between disrespect/abuse from health providers as a barrier to care and the following HIV care outcomes: 1) ART uptake ever, 2) past six month visit to HIV provider, and 3) CD4 count. Participants (N=221) were people living with HIV who injected drugs and were not on ART at enrollment. Results Two in five participants (42%) reported a history disrespect/abuse from a healthcare provider that they cited as a barrier to care. Those reporting this concern had lower odds of ever use of ART (AOR 0.46 [95% CI 0.22, 0.95]); we found no significant associations for the other HIV outcomes. We additionally found higher representation of women among those reporting prevalence of disrespect/abuse from provider as a barrier to care, compared to those not reporting this barrier (58.1% versus 27.3%). Conclusion Almost half of this sample of PWH who inject drugs report disrespect/abuse from a provider as a barrier to healthcare, and this is associated with lower odds of receipt of ART but not with other HIV outcomes studied. There is need for improved focus on quality of respectful and dignified care from providers for PWH who inject drugs, and such focus may improve ART uptake in Russia.