Incidence and Predictors of Loss to Follow-Up Among Children Attending ART Clinics in Northeast Ethiopia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Baseline Sociodemographic Characteristics of Children on ART in Northeast Ethiopia, 2020

Variable		Frequency	Percent
Sex of children	Male	258	52.9
	Female	230	47.1
Age of children	≥ 5 years	341	69.5
	1–5 years	125	25.6
	< 1 years	22	4.5
Relation of child to care giver	Parent	416	85.2
	Guardian	72	14.8
Religion of parent/care giver	Muslim	299	61.3
	Orthodox	171	35.0
	Other*	18	3.7
Residence	Urban	371	76
	Rural	117	24
Age of parent/care giver	≥ 35 years	258	52.9
	< 35 years	230	47.1
Sex of parent/care giver	Male	125	25.6
	Female	363	74.4
Marital status of caregiver	Married	341	69.9
	Single	18	3.7
	Widowed	74	15.1
	Divorced	55	11.3
HIV status of parent/caregiver	Both parents positive	148	30.3
	Mother positive	241	49.4
	Father positive	29	5.9
	Father negative	7	1.4
	Care giver positive	1	0.2
	Care giver negative	24	4.9
	Unknown	38	7.8
Parent status	Both alive	348	71.3
	Only mother alive	57	11.7
	Only father alive	29	5.9
	Both died	33	6.8
	Unknown	21	4.3
Occupation of parent /care giver	Farmer	94	19.3
	Merchant	92	18.9
	Government employee	94	19.3
	Daily worker	59	12.1
	House wife	145	29.7
	Other **	4	0.8
Place of delivery of child	Health facility	237	48.6
	Home	251	74.4

Notes: *Catholic and protestant. **Students and waiters.

Table 2 Baseline Clinical, Laboratory, and ART Information of Children on ART in Northeast Ethiopia, 2020

Variable		Frequency	Percent
Presence of OIs at base line	Yes	356	73.2
	No	132	26.8
Type of OIs	Pneumonia	66	18.9
	Pulmonary tuberculosis	29	8.1
	Upper respiratory tract infection	45	12.6
	Unexplained wasting and stunting	4	1.1
	Diarrhea	56	15.7
	Unexplained Fever	26	7.3
	Herpes zoster	44	12.3
	Oral candidiasis	25	7
	Skin dermatitis	49	13.7
	Other*	13	3.64
Functional status ≥ 5 years (n=341)	Working	324	95
	Ambulatory	10	2.9
	Bed-ridden	7	2.1
Developmental status < 5 years (n=147)	Appropriate	121	82.3
	Delayed	24	16.3
	Regressed	2	1.4
WHO staging	Stage I	134	27.5
	Stage II	171	35
	Stage III	166	34
	Stage IV	17	3.5
Hemoglobin level	≥ 10 mg/dl	431	88.3
	< 10 mg/dl	57	11.7
CD4 count	≥350 cells	227	46.5
	< 350 cells	261	53.5
Eligibility criteria	Clinical (WHO staging)	50	10.2
	CD4 count	235	48.2
	Without criteria	139	28.5
	DBS positive	28	5.7
	Both clinical and CD4 count	36	7.4
Baseline regimen	4a(d4t-3TC-NVP)	116	23.8
	4b(d4t-3TC-EFV	51	10.5
	4c(AZT-3TC-NV)	137	28.1
	4d(AZT-3TC-EFV	88	18
	1e(TDF-3TC-EFV)	51	10.5
	1h(ABC-3TC-NVP)	9	1.8
	1g(ABC-3TC-EFV)	15	3.1
	4g(ABC-3TC-LPV/r)	17	3.5
	Other (1c,4i,4j)	4	0.8
Taking prophylaxis	Yes	452	92.6
	No	36	7.4
Type of prophylaxis	CPT	440	96.3
	INH	13	2.8
	Both CPTand INH	4	0.9
Side effects	Yes	34	7
	No	454	93
Type of side effects	Anemia	16	47
	Rash	14	41.2
	Eye discharge	2	5.9
	Other**	2	5.9
Regimen change	Yes	281	57.6
	No	207	42.4
Reason for change	Drug side effects	34	12
	New drug availability	104	36.8
	Drug out of stock	82	29
	New tuberculosis	6	2.1
	Virologic failure	25	8.8
	Weight > 25 kg	32	11.3
Adherence level	Good	406	83.2
	Fair	38	7.8
	Poor	44	9

Notes: *HIV wasting syndrome, extra pulmonary tuberculosis, parotid enlargement; **fatigue and nausea.

Table 3 Nutritional Information of Children on ART in Northeast Ethiopia, 2020

Variable		Frequency	Percent
Weight for height/length (<5 year)	Normal	122	83
	Wasted	25	17
Weight for age (age<10 year)	Normal	267	75.4
	Underweight	87	24.6
Body mass index for age (≥ 5 years)	Normal weight	299	87.7
	Thin	42	12.3
Height/length for age (<15 years)	Normal	404	82.8
	Stunted	84	17.2

Table 4 Cox Regression Analysis for Predictors of Loss to Follow-Up Among Children on ART in Northeast Ethiopia, 2020

Variable	Status		CHR with CI	AHR with CI	P-value
	LTFU	Censored
Age ≥5 years	58(17%)	283(83%)	1	1
1–5 years	39(31.2%)	86(68.8%)	1.9(1.28,2.90)	1.6(1.05, 2.46)	0.030*
<1 years	4(18.2%)	18(81.8%)	1.2(0.43, 3.28)	0.6 (0.21,1.94)	0.426
Sex: Male	71(27.5%)	187(72.5%)	2.4(1.55–3.65)	2.1(1.37, 3. 34)	0.001**
Female	30(13%)	200(87%)	1	1
Residence: Urban	66(17.8%)	305 (82.2%)	1	1
Rural	35(29.9%)	82(70.1%)	2(1.34–3.04)	1.3 (0.88,2.06)	0.176
Taking prophylaxis
Yes	88(19.5%)	364 (80.5%)	1	1
No	13(36.1%)	23(63.9%)	2.7(1.52,4.91)	0.9(0.46,1.71)	0.718
Regimen change
Yes	43(15.3%)	238(84.7%)	1	1
No	58(28%)	149(72%)	4.3(2.84–6.41)	4.1(2.59,6.45)	0.000**
CD4 count
≥350 cells	28(12.3%)	199(87.7%)	1	1
< 350 cells	73(28%)	188(72%)	2 (1.28–3.06)	1.5(0.93, 2.41)	0.094
Hemoglobin
≥10 mg/dl	75(17.4%)	356(82.6%)	1	1
<10 mg/dl	26(45.6%)	31(54.4%)	2.7(1.73, 4.23)	1.3 (0.81, 2.16)	0.267
Height/L for age
Normal	63(15.6%)	341(84.4%)	1	1
Stunted	38(45.2%)	46(54.8%)	3.6(2.38,5.39)	2.2(1.43, 3.44)	0.000**
WHO stage
Stage I &II	42(13.8%)	263(86.2%)	1	1
Stage III&IV	59(32.2%)	124(67.8%)	2.1(1.43,3.16)	2.2(1.40,3.34)	0.000**
Treatment adherence
Good	53(13.1%)	353(86.9%)	1	1
Fair	12(31.6%)	26(68.4%)	2.8(1.50,5.26) 8.6(5.64,	2.2 (1.14,4.20)	0.019*
Poor	36(81.8%)	8(18.2%)	13.2)	6.6(4.11,10.56)	0.000**

Notes: *Statistically significant predictors. **Statistically highly significant predictors.