Retention in care among HIV-positive patients initiating second-line antiretroviral therapy: a retrospective study from an Ethiopian public hospital clinic.

Background: Access to second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-positive patients remains limited in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, outcomes of second-line ART may be compromised by mortality and loss to follow-up (LTFU).

Objective: To determine retention in care among patients receiving second-line ART in a public hospital in Ethiopia, and to investigate factors associated with LTFU among adults and adolescents.

Design: HIV-positive persons with documented change of first-line ART to a second-line regimen were retrospectively identified from hospital registers, and data were collected at the time of treatment change and subsequent clinic visits. Baseline variables for adults and adolescents were analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models comparing subjects remaining in care and those LTFU (defined as a missed appointment of ≥90 days).

Results: A total of 383 persons had started second-line ART (330 adults/adolescents; 53 children) and were followed for a median of 22.2 months (the total follow-up time was 906 person years). At the end of study follow-up, 80.5% of patients remained in care (adults and adolescents 79.8%; children 85.7%). In multivariate analysis, LTFU among adults and adolescents was associated with a baseline CD4 cell count <100 cells/mm(3) and a first-line regimen failure that was not confirmed by HIV RNA testing.

Conclusions: Although retention in care during second-line ART in this cohort was satisfactory, and similar to that reported from first-line ART programs in Ethiopia, our findings suggest the benefit of earlier recognition of patients with first-line ART failure and confirmation of suspected treatment failure by viral load testing.