Is Social Isolation Related to Emotion Dysregulation and Retention in Care Among Older Persons Living with HIV?

• Authors: Regine Haardoerfer, Emory University; Drenna Waldrop, Emory University; Moka Yoo-Jeong, Columbia University; Regine Haardörfer, Emory University; Marcia Holstad, Emory University; Kenneth Hepburn, Emory University; Drenna Waldrop-Valverde, Emory University
• Journal Title: AIDS AND BEHAVIOR
• Volume: Volume 25, Number 1
• Publisher: SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS | 2020-06-30, Pages 171-181
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02957-4
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Social Sciences; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social Sciences, Biomedical; Biomedical Social Sciences; Older adults; HIV; Retention in care; Social isolation; Emotion dysregulation; DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS; PERCEIVED BARRIERS; ADULTS; HEALTH; LONELINESS; ASSOCIATIONS; CONNECTION; ENGAGEMENT; ADHERENCE; NETWORKS

Abstract

Retention in care is important in managing HIV among older persons living with HIV (PLWH). We used Theory of Loneliness—loneliness affects emotion-regulatory processes which lead to dysfunctional health behaviors—to test whether social isolation is related to retention in care either directly or indirectly through emotion dysregulation in older PLWH (≥ 50 years of age; N = 144). Retention in care was defined as the proportion of attended scheduled medical visits; visit data were collected prospectively over 12 months from electronic medical records. Self-reported social isolation, emotion dysregulation, and covariates were assessed cross-sectionally at baseline. Most participants were male (60%), African American/Black (86%), and single (59%); 56% were optimally retained in care. Retention was related to monthly income, CD4 + T cell count, and drug use with no direct or indirect effects of social isolation on retention in care. Socioeconomic and behavioral vulnerabilities are closely related to retention in care among older PLWH.