Disengagement of HIV-positive pregnant and postpartum women from antiretroviral therapy services: a cohort study

Postnatal retention in HIV care: insight from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study over a 15-year observational period

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to quantify loss to follow-up (LTFU) in HIV care after delivery and to identify risk factors for LTFU, and implications for HIV disease progression and subsequent pregnancies.

METHODS

We used data on pregnancies within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study from 1996 to 2011. A delayed clinical visit was defined as > 180 days and LTFU as no visit for > 365 days after delivery. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for LTFU.

RESULTS

A total of 695 pregnancies in 580 women were included in the study, of which 115 (17%) were subsequent pregnancies. Median maternal age was 32 years (IQR 28-36 years) and 104 (15%) women reported any history of injecting drug use (IDU). Overall, 233 of 695 (34%) women had a delayed visit in the year after delivery and 84 (12%) women were lost to follow-up. Being lost to follow-up was significantly associated with a history of IDU [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.79; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32-5.88; P = 0.007] and not achieving an undetectable HIV viral load (VL) at delivery (aOR 2.42; 95% CI 1.21-4.85; P = 0.017) after adjusting for maternal age, ethnicity and being on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at conception. Forty-three of 84 (55%) women returned to care after LTFU. Half of them (20 of 41) with available CD4 had a CD4 count < 350 cells/μL and 15% (six of 41) a CD4 count < 200 cells/μL at their return.

CONCLUSIONS

A history of IDU and detectable HIV VL at delivery were associated with LTFU. Effective strategies are warranted to retain women in care beyond pregnancy and to avoid CD4 cell count decline. ART continuation should be advised especially if a subsequent pregnancy is planned.

Retention, transfer out and loss to follow-up two years after delivery in a cohort of HIV+ pregnant women in Malawi

In this study, we analysed in a cohort of pregnant women followed for two years the proportion of women remaining at the same clinic, those who transferred to other clinics, and those lost to follow-up. The possible determinants of the loss to follow-up were also assessed in a setting of postpartum discontinuation based on CD4+ count. A total of 311 pregnant women received antiretroviral therapy from week 25 of gestational age until six months postpartum (end of breastfeeding period), or indefinitely if meeting the criteria for treatment (baseline CD4+ <350 cells/mm(3)). Twenty-four months after delivery, six women had died, 247 were in active follow-up, 21 had transferred to another antiretroviral therapy clinic and 37 were lost to follow-up (rate of loss to follow-up 13%, 95% CI 9.1-16.9%). The presence of a baseline CD4+ count above 350 cells/mm(3) was associated with a ten-fold higher risk of loss to follow-up after six months of delivery (hazard ratio: 9.8, 95% CI 2.2-42.7, for baseline CD4 >350 cells/mm(3) versus baseline CD4+ count below 350 cells/mm(3), p = 0.002). This finding suggests that discontinuation of drugs when the risk of transmission has ceased can have a negative impact on the retention in care of these women.

The role of maternal, health system, and psychosocial factors in prevention of mother-to-child transmission failure in the era of programmatic scale up in western Kenya: a case control study

The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in an area of Kenya with widely accessible free PMTCT services. A matched case-control study was conducted at 31 public facilities in western Kenya. HIV-infected mothers with infants aged 6 weeks to 6 months were interviewed and medical charts were reviewed. Cases were mothers of infants with a definitive diagnosis of HIV. Controls were mothers of infants testing HIV negative. Cases and controls were matched in a 1:3 ratio on socio-demographic factors. Fifty cases and 135 controls were enrolled. Conditional (matched) logistic regression analysis was conducted. Odds of being a case were higher for women who first learned their HIV status during pregnancy [OR:2.85, 95%CI:1.41-5.78], did not adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART) [OR:3.35, 95%CI:1.48-7.58], or had a home delivery [OR:2.42, 95%CI:1.01-5.80]. Based on medical record review, cases had higher odds of their provider not following guidelines for prescription of ART for mothers [OR:8.61, 95%CI:2.83-26.15] and infants [OR:9.72, 95%CI:2.75-34.37]. Stigma from the community [OR:0.37, 95% CI:0.14-1.02] or facility [OR:0.38, 95%CI:0.04-3.41], did not increase the odds of MTCT. Poor adherence to PMTCT guidelines and recommendations by both infected women and health care providers hamper efforts to attain elimination of MTCT.