High rates of loss to follow-up during the first year of pre-antiretroviral therapy for HIV patients at sites providing pre-ART care in Nigeria, 2004-2012.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With about 3.4 million HIV-infected persons, Nigeria has the second highest number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the world. However, antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage in Nigeria remains low with only 748,846 (22%) of PLHIV on ART by the end of 2014. Retention of HIV-infected patients in pre-ART care is essential to ensure timely ART initiation. We assessed outcomes of patients enrolled in Nigeria's pre-ART program during 2004-2012.

Methods

We conducted a nationally representative retrospective cohort study among adults (≥15 years old), enrolling in pre-ART programs supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Nigeria. A total of 35 sites enrolling ≥50 patients in pre-ART were selected using probability proportional-to-size sampl

SUBMITTER: Agolory SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5581182 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature