1. Characteristics and outcomes of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV within Southern Africa.
- Author
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Tsondai PR, Braithwaite K, Fatti G, Bolton Moore C, Chimbetete C, Rabie H, Phiri S, Sawry S, Eley B, Hobbins MA, Boulle A, Taghavi K, Sohn AH, and Davies MA
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Africa, Southern epidemiology, Age Factors, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Proportional Hazards Models, Young Adult, Anti-HIV Agents therapeutic use, HIV Infections drug therapy, HIV Infections epidemiology
- Abstract
Background: Using data from 15 International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS in Southern Africa sites, we compared the characteristics and outcomes of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (ALPH)., Methods: We included ALPH entering care aged less than 13 years with at least one HIV care visit during adolescence (10-19 years). We compared the characteristics and cross-sectional outcomes: transfer out, loss to follow-up (no visit in the 12 months prior to database closure), mortality, and retention between those who entered care aged less than 10 vs. aged 10-13 years; and explored predictors of mortality after age 13 years using Cox Proportional Hazards models., Results: Overall, 16 229 (50% female) ALPH who entered HIV care aged less than 10 years and 8897 (54% female) aged 10-13 years were included and followed for 152 574 person-years. During follow-up, 94.1% initiated antiretroviral therapy, with those who entered care aged less than 10 more likely to have initiated antiretroviral therapy [97.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 97.6; 98.1%] than those who presented aged 10-13 years (87.3%, 95% CI 86.6; 88.0%). At the end of follow-up, 3% had died (entered care aged <10 vs. 10-13 years; 1.4 vs. 5.1%), 22% were loss to follow-up (16.2 vs. 33.4%), and 59% (66.4 vs. 45.4%) were retained. There was no difference in the risk of dying after the age of 13 years between adolescents entering care aged less than 10 vs. 10-13 years (adjusted hazard ratio 0.72; 95% CI 0.36; 1.42)., Conclusion: Retention outcomes for ALPH progressively worsened with increasing age, with these outcomes substantially worse among adolescents entering HIV care aged 10-13 vs. less than 10 years.
- Published
- 2020
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