Distance to care, enrollment and loss to follow-up of HIV patients during decentralization of antiretroviral therapy in Neno District, Malawi: A retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT: HIV/AIDS remains the second most common cause of death in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), and only 34% of eligible patients in Africa received antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2013. This study investigated the impact of ART decentralization on patient enrollment and retention in rural Malawi. We reviewed electronic medical records of patients registered in the Neno District ART program from August 1, 2006, when ART first became available, through December 31, 2013. We used GPS data to calculate patient-level distance to care, and examined number of annual ART visits and one-year lost to follow-up (LTFU) in HIV care. The number of ART patients in Neno increased from 48 to 3,949 over the decentralization period. Mean travel distance decreased from 7.3 km when ART was only available a

SUBMITTER: Bilinski A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5626468 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature