Patient Retention in Antiretroviral Therapy Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

作者：Sydney Rosen, Matthew P. Fox, Christopher Gill · 发表于：PLoS Medicine · 年份：2007 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pmed.0040298 · 被引用次数：809 · 研究领域：HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions、Global Maternal and Child Health、HIV/AIDS drug development and treatment

BACKGROUND: Long-term retention of patients in Africa's rapidly expanding antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for HIV/AIDS is essential for these programs' success but has received relatively little attention. In this paper we present a systematic review of patient retention in ART programs in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We searched Medline, other literature databases, conference abstracts, publications archives, and the "gray literature" (project reports available online) between 2000 and 2007 for reports on the proportion of adult patients retained (i.e., remaining in care and on ART) after 6 mo or longer in sub-Saharan African, non-research ART programs, with and without donor support. Estimated retention rates at 6, 12, and 24 mo were calculated and plotted for each program. Retention was also estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves. In sensitivity analyses we considered best-case, worst-case, and midpoint scenarios for retention at 2 y; the best-case scenario assumed no further attrition beyond that reported, while the worst-case scenario assumed that attrition would continue in a linear fashion. We reviewed 32 publications reporting on 33 patient cohorts (74,192 patients, 13 countries). For all studies, the weighted average follow-up period reported was 9.9 mo, after which 77.5% of patients were retained. Loss to follow-up and death accounted for 56% and 40% of attrition, respectively. Weighted mean retention rates as reported were 79.1%, 75.0% and 61.6 % at...