By age – OHESI

Data source: Ontario HIV Laboratory Cohort

Key points

Individuals in the Ontario HIV Laboratory Cohort were considered to be in care if they received at least one viral load (VL) test in a given year.
The percent of people with diagnosed HIV living in Ontario who were in care increased over time for all age categories and was slightly higher for people of older ages.
Time from HIV diagnosis to linkage to care improved over time for all age categories and was slightly better for people of older ages.

Figures

Figure 1 Percent of people with diagnosed HIV living in Ontario who were in care by age category, 2000 to 2015

Trends: Between 2000 and 2015, the percent of people with diagnosed HIV who were in care increased slightly across all age categories and was generally slightly higher for people of older ages. In 2015, the percent in care was 85.3%, 81.8%, 85.3%, 88.8% and 90.0% for those aged 24 or younger, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 or older, respectively. See Tables 1 and 2 below for data and definitions.

Figure 2 Percent of people newly diagnosed with HIV in Ontario who linked to care within three months of diagnosis by age category, 2000 to 2014

Trends: Between 2000 and 2014, the percent of newly diagnosed people who linked to care within three months of diagnosis increased across all age categories and was generally slightly higher for people of older ages. In 2012-2014, the percent linked to care within three months of diagnosis was 82.9%, 79.6%, 84.5%, 85.8% and 84.4% for those aged 24 or younger, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 or older, respectively. See Tables 3 and 4 below for data and definitions.

Tables and definitions

Table 1 Number of people with diagnosed HIV living in Ontario who were in care by age category, 2000 to 2015

Year	≤24	25-34	35-44	45-54	≥55
2000	252	1,462	3,334	1,611	535
2001	284	1,407	3,558	1,766	647
2002	287	1,399	3,785	2,001	758
2003	302	1,395	3,956	2,231	890
2004	327	1,430	4,068	2,494	1,017
2005	345	1,423	4,154	2,769	1,155
2006	359	1,476	4,122	3,095	1,347
2007	362	1,456	4,019	3,447	1,530
2008	370	1,464	3,885	3,859	1,737
2009	381	1,492	3,678	4,226	1,941
2010	388	1,560	3,480	4,493	2,169
2011	399	1,592	3,338	4,765	2,476
2012	390	1,585	3,263	4,875	2,752
2013	381	1,597	3,164	5,013	3,083
2014	375	1,658	3,059	5,084	3,452
2015	400	1,644	3,012	5,092	3,898

“In care” definition

At least one viral load test in a given year

Table 2 Percent of people with diagnosed HIV living in Ontario who were in care by age category, 2000 to 2015

Year	≤24	25-34	35-44	45-54	≥55
2000	79.5	76.5	83.2	84.8	80.8
2001	82.8	77.7	82.8	84.8	82.4
2002	80.6	78.4	83.3	86.7	82.8
2003	81.6	78.8	82.8	86.7	84.8
2004	84.7	80.5	84.2	86.1	84.2
2005	83.9	81.2	84.5	86.2	84.6
2006	83.7	80.6	83.7	86.4	87.6
2007	84.4	79.7	83.5	86.0	87.4
2008	83.1	78.4	83.7	87.1	87.6
2009	84.7	79.7	83.4	86.9	87.6
2010	87.2	82.6	83.3	86.1	86.5
2011	85.4	83.6	83.4	87.0	87.7
2012	84.8	82.9	84.4	87.1	88.2
2013	86.4	82.2	85.1	87.5	88.6
2014	85.6	83.6	85.1	88.0	89.4
2015	85.3	81.8	85.3	88.8	90.0

Estimate of percent in care	“In care” definition (numerator)	“Diagnosed” definition (denominator)
Main	At least one viral load test (See Table 1 above for data)	Nominal HIV-positive diagnostic test or at least one HIV viral load test, and not administratively lost to follow-up after 2 years (See Table 2 here for data)

Table 3 Number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in Ontario who linked to care within three months of diagnosis by age category, 2000 to 2014

Year	≤24	25-34	35-44	45-54	≥55
2000-2002	100	320	321	106	60
2002-2005	114	394	477	192	80
2006-2008	154	372	423	253	86
2009-2011	150	352	371	253	123
2012-2014	145	347	284	223	108

“Linked to care” definition

First viral load test within three months of HIV diagnosis

Table 4 Percent of people newly diagnosed with HIV in Ontario who linked to care within three months of diagnosis by age category, 2000 to 2014

Year	≤24	25-34	35-44	45-54	≥55
2000-2002	68.5	68.4	70.1	68.4	69.8
2002-2005	70.4	72.8	76.9	78.0	74.1
2006-2008	75.9	71.0	74.9	79.3	77.5
2009-2011	73.5	77.4	82.6	79.8	82.6
2012-2014	82.9	79.6	84.5	85.8	84.4

Estimate of percent linked to care	“Linked to care” definition (numerator)	“Newly diagnosed” definition (denominator)
Main	First viral load test within three months of HIV diagnosis (See Table 3 above for data)	Nominal HIV-positive diagnostic test and no evidence of previous diagnosis (i.e. no detectable viral load test or CD4 count before diagnosis date, and first VL after diagnosis not virally suppressed) (Data not shown)

Notes: Data provided by Public Health Ontario Laboratories. Individuals missing information on age were excluded (approximately 0.2%). Percents aggregated over multiple years to reduce year-to-year variation due to small counts (Figure 2 and Tables 3 and 4). The year 2015 not included as some individuals diagnosed in this year would not have had time to link to care (Figure 2 and Tables 3 and 4). Tables and Figures display main estimates only. A range of plausible values, calculated using alternate definitions, are available upon request.