Treatment guidelines and early loss from care for people living with HIV in Cape Town, South Africa: A retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

South Africa has undergone multiple expansions in antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility from an initial CD4+ threshold of ≤200 cells/μl to providing ART for all people living with HIV (PLWH) as of September 2016. We evaluated the association of programmatic changes in ART eligibility with loss from care, both prior to ART initiation and within the first 16 weeks of starting treatment, during a period of programmatic expansion to ART treatment at CD4+ ≤ 350 cells/μl.

Methods and findings

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 4,025 treatment-eligible, non-pregnant PLWH accessing care in a community health center in Gugulethu Township affiliated with the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre in Cape Town. The median age of participants was 34 years (IQR 28-41 years), alm

SUBMITTER: Katz IT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5685472 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature