{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]],"date-time":"2026-04-21T13:22:35Z","timestamp":1776777755898,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]],"date-time":"2025-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747008000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015631","name":"Merck Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ISS60289"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ISS60289"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015631","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosdigitalhealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Digit Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID pandemic necessitated shifting to virtual care. Our aim was to describe, and identify the challenges and satisfaction with the virtual care experience of a subset of participants from two established Canadian Trials Network (CTN) cohorts: CTN 222 (HIV\/HCV coinfection) and CTN 314: CHANGE HIV (Correlates of Healthy Aging in geriatric HIV infection) - persons\u2009&gt;\u200965 years age. We hypothesized that vulnerable populations could face challenges with virtual care related to age, mental health or drug addiction. Consenting participants provided demographic information, completed a non-validated 18-item self- administered questionnaire on their virtual care experience, and reported HIV specific laboratory collection and prescription refills during the COVID pandemic. Data on CD4 T lymphocyte counts and HIV viral loads were extracted from medical records. A total of 454 individuals participated between February 2021 and March 2023, including 133 from CTN 314 and 321 from CTN 222. Overall, 55.3% engaged in virtual care. In multivariable regression models (analysis with SAS and R software) use of virtual care was higher in the aging cohort (p\u2009&lt;\u2009.0001) but did not vary with current alcohol, drug use or self-reported depression (p\u2009&gt;\u2009.05). The most common reason for not engaging was that it was failure to offer. Of those who engaged, 55% reporting being very satisfied, 36.3% somewhat satisfied, and 8.8% not satisfied. Ten percent of the older and 16% of the HCV cohort, reported technology difficulties as a barrier to use. Those with a detectable HIV viral load were more likely to engage in virtual care, p\u2009&lt;\u2009.05. 81.3% of participants had HIV blood tests as frequently as before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite high satisfaction, the majority (80%) prefers in person visits. When offering virtual care, clinics need to ensure all eligible patients are aware of how to access the services and consider patient needs and preferences.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pdig.0000857","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]],"date-time":"2025-05-12T17:34:54Z","timestamp":1747071294000},"page":"e0000857","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pdig.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Evaluation of the virtual care experience for persons in prospective cohorts with HIV during the COVID pandemic"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3959-5692","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sharon 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B.","family":"Klein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"name":"CTN-COVID Sub-study Group","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"pdig.0000857.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1177\/08404704221110084","article-title":"Virtual care and the influence of a pandemic: necessary policy shifts to drive digital innovation in healthcare","volume":"35","author":"PB Patterson","year":"2022","journal-title":"Healthc Manage Forum"},{"issue":"1","key":"pdig.0000857.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.2196\/20621","article-title":"Patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic: use of virtual care","volume":"23","author":"A Wong","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Med Internet 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