Impact of personality disorders on leaving hospital against medical advice among people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada

Purpose Leaving hospital against medical advice (AMA) is a significant source of morbidity, mortality, and a major burden to the healthcare system. Studies have indicated that marginalized populations, including people living with HIV (PLHIV) and those living with a personality disorder (PD), experience high hospitalization rates. We sought to identify whether being diagnosed with a PD was associated with leaving hospital AMA among PLHIV in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Methods Data were derived from the STOP HIV/AIDS in BC cohort, a provincial-level linkage of a series of surveillance, laboratory, and health administrative databases of all identified PLHIV in BC. Using multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE), we examined the relationship between diagnoses of PD and premature hospital discharge among PLHIV. Results Among 8763 PLHIV included in the study sample, 1321 (15%) were diagnosed with a PD. The prevalence of leaving hospital AMA at least once during the study period was 9%. In multivariable GEE analyses, after adjusting for a range of demographic and clinical confounders, there remained a positive association between being diagnosed with a PD and leaving hospital prematurely. Results showed a significant and independent association between a PD diagnosis and leaving AMA among PLHIV. Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of identifying and addressing specific PD-related behaviour which negatively impact inpatient treatment completion among this subpopulation of PLHIV. Furthermore, these findings suggest a need to develop novel health system interventions to minimize AMA discharge among this population.