A retrospective evaluation of pretreatment and follow-up monitoring of HIV-infected adult patients in a resource-poor setting.

The rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with the challenges of ensuring that HIV care delivered to clients is of the highest quality. This study was designed to evaluate the pretreatment and 12 month follow-up monitoring of clinical and laboratory profiles of HIV-infected patients at the adult HIV clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, in Nigeria. It was a retrospective analysis of records of 440 adult patients who were on follow-up visits for 1 or more years. Two hundred two (45.9%) were male and 238 (54.1%) were female. Weight was documented at baseline in 314 (71.4%) and at month 12 of follow-up in 258 (58.6%). Baseline World Health Organization (WHO) clinical stage was documented in 269 (61.1%). Baseline CD4 count, full blood count (FBC), creatinine (Cr), liver function tests (LFT), fasting blood sugar (FBS), and fasting serum lipids (FSL) were documented in 243 (55.6%), 260 (59.1%), 143 (32.5%), 136 (30.9%), 268 (60.9%), and 161 (36.6%), respectively. At 12th month of follow-up visit, the CD4 count, FBC, Cr, LFT, FBS, and FSL were documented in 121 (27.5%), 94 (21.4%), 59 (13.4%), 77 (17.5%), 179 (40.7%), and 95 (21.6%), respectively. This report shows that the pretreatment and the 12th-month follow-up monitoring of HIV-infected adult patients in our center was less than optimal. We recommend periodic self-assessment by care providers to monitor compliance with standards.