Utilization of health care resources by HIV-infected white, African-American, and Hispanic men in the era before highly active antiretroviral therapy.

In the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era, U.S. African-American and Hispanic patients with HIV use HAART less, but emergency and inpatient services more, than white patients. We evaluated whether these patterns existed in the pre-HAART era. Data from prospective cohort studies of 462 male Veterans Affairs patients and 1,309 male patients from the AIDS Costs and Services Utilization Survey were combined. Resource utilization of white, African-American, and Hispanic men was compared. Compared to whites, African Americans were more likely to visit the emergency department and less likely to have mental health, home health, and dental visits; had fewer outpatient and substance abuse treatment visits; and had more inpatient nights. Hispanics were less likely to have mental health and home health visits, and had more inpatient nights. Whites used prescription drugs more than African Americans or Hispanics, but antiretrovirals were equally used. Lower access to HAART for African-American and Hispanic patients is a new phenomenon, not a continuation of pre-HAART patterns, while the undesirable patterns of emergency and outpatient provider resource utilization in the HAART era are a continuation of pre-HAART patterns. Undesirable resource utilization patterns by African-American and Hispanic populations need urgent attention.