Variation in HIV care and treatment outcomes by facility in South Africa, 2011-2015: A cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite widespread availability of HIV treatment, patient outcomes differ across facilities. We propose and evaluate an approach to measure quality of HIV care at health facilities in South Africa's national HIV program using routine laboratory data.

Methods and findings

Data were extracted from South Africa's National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Corporate Data Warehouse. All CD4 counts, viral loads (VLs), and other laboratory tests used in HIV monitoring were linked, creating a validated patient identifier. We constructed longitudinal HIV care cascades for all patients in the national HIV program, excluding data from the Western Cape and very small facilities. We then estimated for each facility in each year (2011 to 2015) the following cascade measures iden

SUBMITTER: Bor J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8012100 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature