Effect of point-of-care CD4 cell count tests on retention of patients and rates of antiretroviral therapy initiation in primary health clinics: an observational cohort study.

Background: Loss to follow-up of HIV-positive patients before initiation of antiretroviral therapy can exceed 50% in low-income settings and is a challenge to the scale-up of treatment. We implemented point-of-care counting of CD4 cells in Mozambique and assessed the effect on loss to follow-up before immunological staging and treatment initiation.

Methods: In this observational cohort study, data for enrolment into HIV management and initiation of antiretroviral therapy were extracted retrospectively from patients' records at four primary health clinics providing HIV treatment and point-of-care CD4 services.

Accurate CD4 T-cell enumeration and antiretroviral drug toxicity monitoring in primary healthcare clinics using point-of-care testing.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of point-of-care tests (POCTs) for CD4 cell, clinical chemistry and hemoglobin in primary healthcare clinics in Mozambique.

Design And Methods: POCT and laboratory-based assays were conducted on adult HIV-positive patients enrolled consecutively at primary healthcare clinics in Mozambique. Patients were tested on-site with POCT CD4 (Pima), clinical chemistry (Reflotron) and hemoglobin (HemoCue) devices using finger prick blood.