Lower early mortality rates among patients receiving antiretroviral treatment at clinics offering cotrimoxazole prophylaxis in Malawi.

Objective: To determine whether Malawi antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinics providing cotrimoxazole (CTX) prophylaxis had lower early mortality rates compared with clinics not providing CTX.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of eleven ART clinics in Malawi that were or were not providing CTX. Medical record abstraction was performed for all patients (N = 1295) initiating ART between July 1 and December 15, 2005.