Outcomes of antiretroviral treatment in programmes with and without routine viral load monitoring in Southern Africa

Keiser, Olivia; Chi, Benjamin H; Gsponer, Thomas; Boulle, Andrew; Orrell, Catherine; Phiri, Sam; Maxwell, Nicola; Maskew, Mhairi; Prozesky, Hans; Fox, Matthew P; Westfall, Andrew; Egger, Matthias (2011). Outcomes of antiretroviral treatment in programmes with and without routine viral load monitoring in Southern Africa. AIDS, 25(14), pp. 1761-1769. Hagerstown, Md.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 10.1097/QAD.0b013e328349822f

[img] Text
Keiser AIDS 2011.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (294kB) | Request a copy
[img]
Preview
Text
Keiser AIDS 2011_manuscript.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (2MB) | Preview

Objectives: To compare outcomes of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa, where viral load monitoring is routine, with those in Malawi and Zambia, where monitoring is based on CD4 cell counts.

Methods: We included 18 706 adult patients starting ART in South Africa and 80 937 patients in Zambia or Malawi. We examined CD4 responses in models for repeated measures and the probability of switching to second-line regimens, mortality and loss to follow-up in multistate models, measuring time from 6 months.

Results: In South Africa, 9.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 9.1–10.5] had switched at 3 years, 1.3% (95% CI 0.9–1.6) remained on failing first-line regimens, 9.2% (95% CI 8.5–9.8) were lost to follow-up and 4.3% (95% CI 3.9–4.8) had died. In Malawi and Zambia, more patients were on a failing first-line regimen [3.7% (95% CI 3.6–3.9], fewer patients had switched [2.1% (95% CI 2.0–2.3)] and more patients were lost to follow-up [15.3% (95% CI 15.0–15.6)] or had died [6.3% (95% CI 6.0–6.5)]. Median CD4 cell counts were lower in South Africa at the start of ART (93 vs. 132 cells/μl; P < 0.001) but higher after 3 years (425 vs. 383 cells/μl; P < 0.001). The hazard ratio comparing South Africa with Malawi and Zambia after adjusting for age, sex, first-line regimen and CD4 cell count was 0.58 (0.50–0.66) for death and 0.53 (0.48–0.58) for loss to follow-up.

Conclusion: Over 3 years of ART mortality was lower in South Africa than in Malawi or Zambia. The more favourable outcome in South Africa might be explained by viral load monitoring leading to earlier detection of treatment failure, adherence counselling and timelier switching to second-line ART.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Keiser, Olivia, Gsponer, Thomas, Egger, Matthias

ISSN:

0269-9370

Publisher:

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:22

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:06

Publisher DOI:

10.1097/QAD.0b013e328349822f

PubMed ID:

21681057

Web of Science ID:

000294415200010

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.7311

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/7311 (FactScience: 212509)

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback