The HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS) Activity to Abstract Data from Persons Receiving Ambulatory Care for HIV Infection in the United States (the “Prime Agreement”)

CDC/HOPS researchers have used these data to gain insights into best practices in prevention and treatment as well as to guide future studies. Findings from the HOPS have improved understanding of which other diseases complicate prolonged survival, the metabolic problems associated with therapy, adherence to treatment, and many other topics. The HOPS was initiated by the CDC for purpose of describing and monitoring trends in demographics, symptoms, diagnoses, treatments, complications, outcomes and risk behaviors among persons getting outpatient care for HIV infection. The HOPS collects information from a large group of HIV-infected patients at nine clinics across the United States. This includes data from reviews of medical and laboratory records, providers, vital records, and patient surveys. HOPS, one of the largest U.S. government-funded longitudinal cohort studies, follows HIV-infected patients to gain insights to improve prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. CDC initiated the study in 1993 to describe and monitor trends in demographics, symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments in a population of HIV-infected outpatients in nine clinics across the United States. HOPS researchers at these clinics gather clinical, immunologic and virologic data, as well as genotypic and phenotypic information through periodic reviews of medical records. Through analysis of HOPS data, researchers have verified the impact of existing therapeutics, gained knowledge to inform new best practices in prevention and treatment and discovered new concerns warranting additional study.