A packaged intervention to improve viral load monitoring within a deeply rural health district of South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa has the highest prevalence of HIV infection in the world. Viral load (VL) testing is a crucial tool for clinical and programmatic monitoring. Within uMkhanyakude district, VL suppression rates were 91% among patients with VL data; however, VL performance rates averaged only 38·7%. The objective of this study was to determine if enhanced clinic processes and community outreach could improve VL monitoring within this district.

Methods

A packaged intervention was implemented at three rural clinics in the setting of the KZN HIV AIDS Drug Resistance Surveillance Study. This included file hygiene, outreach, a VL register and documentation revisions. Chart audits were used to assess fidelity. Outcome measures included perc

SUBMITTER: Brijkumar J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7659110 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature