RETRACTED ARTICLE: Magnitude and Determinants of Virological Failure Among Patients >15 Years on Anti-Retroviral Therapy in Rural Lesotho Between 2015 and 2019 – A Retrospective Cohort Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Frequency Table of Demographic and Clinical Profile of Adult HIV Patients Receiving Care in Butha-Buthe and Mokhotlong Districts, 2015–2019

Variables	Categories	No Virological Failure		Virological Failure		Study Population
		N	%	N	%	N	%
Gender	Female	13,325	67%	614	66%	13,939	67%
	Male	6683	33%	317	34%	7000	33%
Age group	15 to 24 years	1103	6%	144	15%	1247	0.01%
	25 to 34 years	3189	16%	145	16%	3334	0.02%
	35 to 44 years	5949	30%	305	33%	6254	0.03%
	45 to 54 years	4698	23%	204	22%	4902	0.02%
	55 to 64 years	3169	16%	94	10%	3263	0.02%
	65 to 74 years	1518	8%	29	3%	1547	0.01%
	75 + years	388	2%	10	1%	398	2%
WHO staging	Stage 1	527	3%	9	1%	536	3%
	Stage 2	436	2%	6	1%	442	2%
	Stage 3	317	2%	6	1%	323	2%
	Stage 4	24	0%	2	0%	26	0%
	Missing	18,710	93%	908	98%	19,618	94%
TB History	Yes	1067	5%	13	1%	1.08	0%
	No	242	1%	6	1%	248	1%
	Missing	18,705	93%	912	98%	19,617	94%
Breastfeeding	Yes	563	4.7%	38	6.2%	601	4.1%
	No	13,376	95.3%	576	93.8%	13,939	95.9%
Pregnant	Yes	237	1.7%	8	1.3%	245	1.7%
	No	13,702	98.3%	606	98.7%	14,308	98.3%
Missing medication doses	Yes	19,059	95%	877	94%	19,936	95%
	No	435	2%	23	2%	458	2%
	Missing	520	3%	31	3%	551	3%
Time on ART	Mean	67 months (SD 34.15)		83.6 months (SD:29.32)		69.6 months (SD:34.09)
	Median	64 (IQR: 42–102)		91 (IQR: 57–109)		65 (IQR: 43–102)
CD4 Count	Mean	360 (441.6)		356.1 (SD: 272.8)		357.4 (SD: 435.7)
	Median	297 (IQR: 162–479)		276.5 (IQR: 165–483.5)		293 (IQR: 159–477)

Table 2 Bivariate and Multivariate Analysis Assessing Associations Between Independent Variables and Virological Failure in Butha-Buthe and Mokhotlong Districts from 2015 to 2019

Variables	Categories	Unadjusted OR	95% CI	P-value	Adjusted	95% CI	P-value
					OR
Gender	Males	1.03	0.90–1.18	0.682
	Females
First CD4	< 300
	≥300	1.34	0.18–10.14	0.18
Breastfeeding	Yes	1.46	1.04–2.06	0.02*	#	#	#
	No
Pregnant	Yes	0.74	0.363–1.500	0.4	#	#	#
	No
Time on ART	< 65 months
	≥ 65months	1.81	1.58–2.08	<0.001**	1.85	1.59–2.15	<0.001**
Missed doses	Yes	1.15	0.75–1.76	0.521	#	#	#
	No
TB History	Yes	0.49	0.18–1.31	0.154
	No
Who clinical stage	Stage 1	0.21	0.04–1.01	0.05	#	#	#
	Stage 2	0.12	0.03–0.86	0.03	#	#	#
	Stage 3	0.23	0.43–1.19	0.08	#	#	#
	Stage 4
Age groups	15–24	0.35	0.27–0.44	<0.001**	0.39	0.30–0.51	<0.001**
	25–34	0.39	0.32–0.48	<0.001**	0.4	0.32–0.50	<0.001**
	35–44	0.33	0.27–0.42	<0.001**	0.32	0.25–0.41	<0.001**
	45–54	0.23	0.17–0.30	<0.001**	0.22	0.16–0.29	<0.001**
	55–64	0.16	0.11–0.22	<0.001**	0.15	0.11–0.23	<0.001**
	≥65
ART	1st Line	1
Regimen	≥ 2nd Line	82.0	62.65–107.4	<0.001**	75.23	57.00–99.16	<0.001**

Notes: ^#Breastfeeding, missed doses, pregnancy, WHO clinical staging omitted because of collinearity. *p<0.01, **p<0.001.

Abbreviations: ART, active antiretroviral treatment; LePHIA, Lesotho household-based national survey; OR, odds ratio; PLHIV, people living with HIV; SSA, sub-Saharan Africa; VL, viral load; WHO, World Health Organization.