P307 Linkage to HIV care from sexual health center rotterdam: timely entrance to care, but worrying loss to follow-up in migrants

In 2013 a personalised approach to follow-up of HIV patients who had withdrawn from HIV care was taken at RPA Sexual Health, a Sydney metropolitan sexual health service. HIV patients were telephoned, sent text messages, emailed and sent letters multiple times where applicable. With this intervention 20 of 23 people who had withdrawn from HIV care re-engaged. Since that time, active follow-up of all people diagnosed with HIV has resulted in only 2% of HIV patients at RPA Sexual Health being lost to follow-up.

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Trends in mortality and loss to follow-up in HIV care at the Nkongsamba Regional hospital, Cameroon

BMC Research Notes ◽

10.1186/1756-0500-6-512 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Cavin Epie Bekolo ◽

Jayne Webster ◽

Moses Batenganya ◽

Gerald Etapelong Sume ◽

Basile Kollo

Keyword(s):

Regional Hospital ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Loss To Follow Up

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Impact of a child -friendly clinic on retention of HIV-infected children in care: an intervention study

Nigerian Journal of Paediatrics ◽

10.4314/njp.v44i4.1 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 175-179

Author(s):

OR Ugwu

Keyword(s):

Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy ◽

Retention Rate ◽

Retention In Care ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Satisfaction Survey ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Child Friendly ◽

Children In Care ◽

The Impact

Background: Certain researchers have reported that a child-friendly clinic may improve patient/caregiver satisfaction at clinic attendance. This could serve as an innovation for reducing loss-to-follow up and increasing retention in care.Aim: To assess the impact of making the clinic more child-friendly on clinic experience, retention in care and loss-to-follow up of HIV -infected children.Method: The study was carried out in three phases. Phase one was a satisfaction survey to find out the patient/caregivers’ satisfaction of the clinic environment and services provided using a selfadministered questionnaire. Phase two was the creation of the childfriendly environment and phase three was a post-provision of child-friendly clinic satisfaction survey. The loss-to-follow up rate (failure to return to clinic ≥3months after the last scheduled clinic appointment in a child not known to be dead or transferred out of the facility) and retention rate (remaining alive and receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy) were also determined before and after setting up the childfriendly clinic.Results: There were 146 respondents before the study and 206 respondents after the intervention. The retention rate increased from 62.5% to 82% (p=0.02), while the loss-to-follow up rate dropped from 27.7% to 7.0% (p=0.00).Conclusion: Making the clinic area child-friendly can impact greatly on HIV care by improving patient satisfaction and retention of HIVinfected children in care and reducing loss-to-follow up.Key words: HIV, child-friendly environment, retention in care, loss to follow-up.

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Establishment, Retention, and Loss to Follow-Up in Outpatient HIV Care

JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes ◽

10.1097/qai.0b013e318258c696 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 249-259 ◽

Cited By ~ 116

Author(s):

John A. Fleishman ◽

Baligh R. Yehia ◽

Richard D. Moore ◽

P. Todd Korthuis ◽

Kelly A. Gebo

Keyword(s):

Hiv Care ◽

Loss To Follow Up

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Effectiveness among MSM of an HIV PrEP program developed in a Parisian sexual health center

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.878 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽

Author(s):

B Thomas ◽

P Piron ◽

E de La Rochebrochard ◽

C Segouin ◽

P Troude

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Sexual Health ◽

Health Center ◽

Post Exposure Prophylaxis ◽

First Year ◽

Success Ratio ◽

History Of ◽

Exposure Prophylaxis ◽

Very High

Abstract Background HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective but depends on patients' adherence and follow-up. To enhance follow-up quality and care engagement, the PrEP program developed in our Parisian sexual health center offers accompanying measures throughout the patients' course of care, relying notably on an identified and easily accessible referent. This trained paramedic counselor in sexual health provides support in organizing appointments, phone and email follow-up to answer daily questions, as well as one-on-one sessions of therapeutic support and counseling. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of such a PrEP program among men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods This retrospective observational study included all MSM who initiated PrEP for the first time between 1 August 2018 and 30 June 2019 in the Fernand-Widal hospital sexual health center, Paris, France. Sociodemographic characteristics, sexual practices including very high risk situations (chemsex practice and/or sexually transmitted diseases at initiation and/or history of post-exposure prophylaxis [PEP]) and course of care during the first year were described. A novel metric developed by Hendrickson et al., the PrEP success ratio at 12 months, was used to assess effectiveness of PrEP. Results Among the 125 MSM included in this study, the median age was 33 and most had only male partners. At initiation, 58% were considered at very high risk of HIV infection, mainly due to a history of PEP. During the first year, patients attended a median of 3 visits (Q1-Q3, 2-4). At 12 months, 96% (95% CI, 92.6 to 99.4) of patients had a successful PrEP course, with no reported seroconversion. Conclusions This experiment highlights the possibility of achieving a high PrEP success ratio among MSM in a real-world setting. The accompanying measures set up in our sexual health center could explain the effectiveness of our PrEP program in comparison with previous studies. Key messages In a Parisian sexual health center that developed an HIV PrEP program with a trained paramedic counselor in sexual health, 96% of MSM achieved a successful PrEP course at 12 months. Accompanying measures for PrEP users could play a key role in achieving high PrEP success among MSM.

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The cost and effect of expanding a Patient Tracer programme to identify and return patients loss to follow up at a large HIV Clinic in Trinidad

10.21203/rs.3.rs-41913/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

R. Jeffrey Edwards ◽

Nyla Lyons ◽

Wendy Samaroo-Francis ◽

Leon-Omari Lavia ◽

Isshad John ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Viral Suppression ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Treatment Clinic ◽

The Status ◽

Clinic Medical ◽

The Cost ◽

Lost To Follow Up ◽

Over Time

Abstract Background: Patients who default from HIV care are usually poorly adherent to antiretroviral treatment which results in suboptimal viral suppression. The study evaluated the effect and cost of expanding an intervention using two Patient Tracers to track and return to care patients lost to follow up at a large HIV Clinic in Trinidad.Methods: Two Social Workers were trained as Patient Tracers and hired initially for 6 months (April –September 2017), then extended to 15 months (April 2017 – June 2018) to call patients who were lost to follow up for 30 days or more during the period July 2016 – May 2018 at the HIV Clinic Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago. Both the outcomes of the intervention, and costs were assessed over time. Results: Over the 15 month period, of the of 2,473 patients who missed their scheduled visits for one month or more, 261 (10.6%) patients were no longer in active care - 89 patients dead, 65 migrated, 55 hospitalized, 33 transferred to another treatment clinic and 19 incarcerated. Of the remaining 2,212 patients eligible for tracing, 1,794 (81.1%) patients were returned to care at an average cost of $38.09 USD per patient returned to care as compared to 589 of 866 (68%) patients returned to care over the 6 month period (p < 0.001) at an estimated cost of $47.72 USD per patient returned to care (p<0.001). Of the 1,794 patients returned to care, 1,686 (94%) were re-initiated/started on anti-retroviral therapy and 72.7% of these were virally suppressed (viral load <1,000 copies/ml) as of December 2018.Conclusions: Patient Tracing is a feasible and effective intervention to identify and resolve the status of patients who are loss to follow up to bring these patients back into care with the aim of achieving viral suppression on antiretroviral therapy. Over time the effect of costs of patients returned to care demonstrated greater yields making patient tracing a sustainable intervention for programmes to identify and return patients to care.

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Loss to follow-up and associated maternal factors among HIV-exposed infants at the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda: A retrospective study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-16526/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rogers Ankunda ◽

Samuel Nambile Cumber ◽

Catherine Atuhaire ◽

Kabanda Taseera ◽

Claude Ngwayu Nkfusai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Family Planning ◽

Referral Hospital ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Maternal Factors ◽

Regional Referral Hospital ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Hiv Exposed Infants ◽

Hiv Exposed ◽

Depth Interviews

Abstract Background Loss to follow-up (LTFU) deprives HIV-exposed infants the lifesaving care required and results in exposing HIV free infants to virus requisition risk. We aimed to determine the rate of LTFU, postnatal mother-to-child HIV-transmission and to identify maternal factors associated with LTFU among HIV-exposed infants enrolled at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital PMTCT clinic. Methods Study participants were infants born to HIV-positive mothers enrolled in the PMTCT clinic for HIV care at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. While access database in the Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) clinic provided data on infants, the open medical record system database at the ISS clinic provided that for mothers. Infants were classified as LTFU if they had not complete their follow-up schedule by 18 months of age. At 18 months, an infant is expected to receive a rapid diagnostic test before being discharged from the PMTCT clinic. Postnatal MTCT of HIV was calculated as a proportion of infants followed and tested from birth to 18 months of age. Logistic regression was used to determine possible associations between mothers’ characteristics and LTFU. In-depth interviews of mothers of LTFU infants and health workers who attend to the HIV-exposed infants were carried out to identify factors not captured in the electronic database. Results Out of 1624 infants enrolled at the clinic, 533 (33%) were dropped for lack of mother’s clinic identification number, 18 (1.1%) were either dead or transferred out. Out of 1073 infants analysed, 515 (48%) were LTFU while out of the 558 who completed their follow-up schedule, 20 (3.6%) tested positive for HIV. Young age of mother, far distance to hospital and non-use of family planning were identified as outstanding factors responsible for LTFU. In addition, in-depth interviews revealed facility-level factors such as “waiting time”. Conclusion This study has revealed a high rate of LTFU among HIV-exposed infants enrolled at Mbarara Regional Referral hospital PMTCT clinic. Young maternal age, long distance to health facility and failure to use family planning were significantly associated with LTFU. Incorporating family planning services in the ART and PMTCT clinics could reduce LTFU of these infants.

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The HIV care cascade for adolescents initiated on antiretroviral therapy in a health district of South Africa: a retrospective cohort study

BMC Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1186/s12879-020-05742-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Roxanna Haghighat ◽

Elona Toska ◽

Nontuthuzelo Bungane ◽

Lucie Cluver

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Viral Load ◽

Antiretroviral Therapy ◽

Viral Suppression ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Hiv Care Cascade ◽

Care Cascade ◽

Clinical Records

Abstract Background Little evidence exists to comprehensively estimate adolescent viral suppression after initiation on antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examines adolescent progression along the HIV care cascade to viral suppression for adolescents initiated on antiretroviral therapy in South Africa. Methods All adolescents ever initiated on antiretroviral therapy (n=1080) by 2015 in a health district of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, were interviewed in 2014–2015. Clinical records were extracted from 52 healthcare facilities through January 2018 (including records in multiple facilities). Mortality and loss to follow-up rates were corrected for transfers. Predictors of progression through the HIV care cascade were tested using sequential multivariable logistic regressions. Predicted probabilities for the effects of significant predictors were estimated by sex and mode of infection. Results Corrected mortality and loss to follow-up rates were 3.3 and 16.9%, respectively. Among adolescents with clinical records, 92.3% had ≥1 viral load, but only 51.1% of viral loads were from the past 12 months. Adolescents on ART for ≥2 years (AOR 3.42 [95%CI 2.14–5.47], p< 0.001) and who experienced decentralised care (AOR 1.39 [95%CI 1.06–1.83], p=0.018) were more likely to have a recent viral load. The average effect of decentralised care on recent viral load was greater for female (AOR 2.39 [95%CI 1.29–4.43], p=0.006) and sexually infected adolescents (AOR 3.48 [95%CI 1.04–11.65], p=0.043). Of the total cohort, 47.5% were recorded as fully virally suppressed at most recent test. Only 23.2% were recorded as fully virally suppressed within the past 12 months. Younger adolescents (AOR 1.39 [95%CI 1.06–1.82], p=0.017) and those on ART for ≥2 years (AOR 1.70 [95%CI 1.12–2.58], p=0.013) were more likely to be fully viral suppressed. Conclusions Viral load recording and viral suppression rates remain low for ART-initiated adolescents in South Africa. Improved outcomes for this population require stronger engagement in care and viral load monitoring.

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Factors Associated With Loss-To-Follow-Up Of Hiv-Positive Mothers And Their Infants Enrolled In Hiv Care Clinic: A Qualitative Study

10.21203/rs.2.14292/v2 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Lawrent Mpinganjira ◽

Timothy Tchereni ◽

Andrews Gunda ◽

Victor Mwapasa

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

Health Facilities ◽

System Level ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Hiv Positive ◽

Long Distance ◽

Care Clinic ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Factors Associated

Abstract Background In Malawi, loss to follow-up (LTFU) of HIV-positive pregnant and postpartum women on Option B+ regimen greatly contributes to sub-optimal retention, estimated 74% at 12 months postpartum. This threatens Malawi’s efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. We investigated factors associated with LTFU among Mother-Infant Pairs. Methods We conducted a qualitative study, nested within the “Promoting Retention Among Infants and Mothers Effectively (PRIME)” study, a 3-arm cluster randomized trial assessing the effectiveness of strategies for improving retention of mother-infant pairs in HIV care in Salima and Mangochi districts, Malawi. From July to December 2016, we traced 19 LTFU women and conducted in-depth interviews with them and also with 30 healthcare workers from health facilities where the LTFU women were receiving care. Recorded interviews were transcribed and translated and, then, analysed using deductive content analysis. Results The following reasons were reported contributing to LTFU: lack of support from husbands or family members; long distance to health facilities; food insecurity; community-level stigma; ART side effects; perceived good health after taking ART and adoption of other alternative HIV treatment options. Conclusion Our study has found multiple factors at personal, family, community and health system level which contribute to poor retention of mother-infant pairs in HIV care. Key words PRIME, PMTCT, EMTCT, loss to follow up, mother-infant pairs, Option B+

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The expansion of a patient tracer programme to identify and return patients loss to follow up at a large HIV clinic in Trinidad

AIDS Research and Therapy ◽

10.1186/s12981-021-00341-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

R. Jeffrey Edwards ◽

Nyla Lyons ◽

Wendy Samaroo-Francis ◽

Leon-Omari Lavia ◽

Isshad John ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Viral Suppression ◽

Retention In Care ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

The Status ◽

Care Models ◽

Clinic Medical ◽

Lost To Follow Up

Abstract Background Patients who default from HIV care are usually poorly adherent to antiretroviral treatment which results in suboptimal viral suppression. The study assessed the outcomes of retention in care and viral suppression by expansion of an intervention using two patient tracers to track patients lost to follow up at a large HIV clinic in Trinidad. Methods Two Social Workers were trained as patient tracers and hired for 15 months (April 2017–June 2018) to call patients who were lost to follow up for 30 days or more during the period July 2016–May 2018 at the HIV clinic Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago. Results Over the 15-month period, of the of 2473 patients who missed their scheduled visits for 1 month or more, 261 (10.6%) patients were no longer in active care—89 patients dead, 65 migrated, 55 hospitalized, 33 transferred to another treatment clinic and 19 incarcerated. Of the remaining 2212 patients eligible for tracing, 1869 (84.5%) patients were returned to care, 1278 (68.6%) were virally unsuppressed (viral load > 200 copies/ml) and 1727 (92.4%) were re-initiated on ART. Twelve months after their return, 1341 (71.7%) of 1869 patients were retained in care and 1154 (86.1%) of these were virally suppressed. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression showed that persons were more likely to be virally suppressed if they were employed (OR, 1.39; 95% CI 1.07–1.80), if they had baseline CD4 counts < 200 cells/mm3 (OR, 1.71; 95% CI 1.26–2.32) and if they were retained in care at 12 months (OR, 2.48; 95% CI 1.90–3.24). Persons initiated on ART for 4–6 years (OR, 3.09; 95% CI 1.13–8.48,), 7–9 years (OR, 3.97; 95% CI 1.39–11.31), > 10 years (OR, 5.99; 95% CI 1.74–20.64 were more likely to be retained in care. Conclusions Patient Tracing is a feasible intervention to identify and resolve the status of patients who are loss to follow up and targeted interventions such as differentiated care models may be important to improve retention in care.

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