Prior exposure to antiretroviral therapy among adult patients presenting for HIV treatment initiation or reinitiation in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Prevalence of Emergent Dolutegravir Resistance Mutations in People Living with HIV: A Rapid Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Dolutegravir (DTG) is a cornerstone of global antiretroviral (ARV) therapy (ART) due to its high efficacy and favorable tolerability. However, limited data exist regarding the risk of emergent integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) drug-resistance mutations (DRMs) in individuals receiving DTG-containing ART.

METHODS

We performed a PubMed search using the term "Dolutegravir", last updated 18 December 2023, to estimate the prevalence of VF with emergent INSTI DRMs in people living with HIV (PLWH) without previous VF on an INSTI who received DTG-containing ART.

RESULTS

Of 2131 retrieved records, 43 clinical trials, 39 cohorts, and 6 cross-sectional studies provided data across 6 clinical scenarios based on ART history, virological status, and co-administered ARVs: (1) ART-naïve PLWH receiving DTG plus two NRTIs; (2) ART-naïve PLWH receiving DTG plus lamivudine; (3) ART-experienced PLWH with VF on a previous regimen receiving DTG plus two NRTIs; (4) ART-experienced PLWH with virological suppression receiving DTG plus two NRTIs; (5) ART-experienced PLWH with virological suppression receiving DTG and a second ARV; and (6) ART-experienced PLWH with virological suppression receiving DTG monotherapy. The median proportion of PLWH in clinical trials with emergent INSTI DRMs was 1.5% for scenario 3 and 3.4% for scenario 6. In the remaining four trial scenarios, VF prevalence with emergent INSTI DRMs was ≤0.1%. Data from cohort studies minimally influenced prevalence estimates from clinical trials, whereas cross-sectional studies yielded prevalence data lacking denominator details.

CONCLUSIONS

In clinical trials, the prevalence of VF with emergent INSTI DRMs in PLWH receiving DTG-containing regimens has been low. Novel approaches are required to assess VF prevalence with emergent INSTI DRMs in PLWH receiving DTG in real-world settings.

Reasons for disengagement from antiretroviral care in the era of "Treat All" in low- or middle-income countries: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Disengagement from antiretroviral therapy (ART) care is an important reason why people living with HIV do not achieve viral load suppression become unwell.

METHODS

We searched two databases and conference abstracts from January 2015 to December 2022 for studies which reported reasons for disengagement from ART care. We included quantitative (mainly surveys) and qualitative (in-depth interviews or focus groups) studies conducted after "treat all" or "Option B+" policy adoption. We used an inductive approach to categorize reasons: we report how often reasons were reported in studies and developed a conceptual framework for reasons.

RESULTS

We identified 21 studies which reported reasons for disengaging from ART care in the "Treat All" era, mostly in African countries: six studies in the general population of persons living with HIV, nine in pregnant or postpartum women and six in selected populations (one each in people who use drugs, isolated indigenous communities, men, women, adolescents and men who have sex with men). Reasons reported were: side effects or other antiretroviral tablet issues (15 studies); lack of perceived benefit of ART (13 studies); psychological, mental health or drug use (13 studies); concerns about stigma or confidentiality (14 studies); lack of social or family support (12 studies); socio-economic reasons (16 studies); health facility-related reasons (11 studies); and acute proximal events such as unexpected mobility (12 studies). The most common reasons for disengagement were unexpected events, socio-economic reasons, ART side effects or lack of perceived benefit of ART. Conceptually, studies described underlying vulnerability factors (individual, interpersonal, structural and healthcare) but that often unexpected proximal events (e.g. unanticipated mobility) acted as the trigger for disengagement to occur.

DISCUSSION

People disengage from ART care for individual, interpersonal, structural and healthcare reasons, and these reasons overlap and interact with each other. While HIV programmes cannot predict and address all events that may lead to disengagement, an approach that recognizes that such shocks will happen could help.

CONCLUSIONS

Health services should focus on ways to encourage clients to engage with care by making ART services welcoming, person-centred and more flexible alongside offering adherence interventions, such as counselling and peer support.

Preferences for services in a patient's first six months on antiretroviral therapy for HIV in South Africa and Zambia (PREFER): research protocol for a prospective observational cohort study

Background

For patients on HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, the highest risk for loss from care remains the first six months after antiretroviral (ART) initiation, when patients are not yet eligible for differentiated service delivery (DSD) models that offer lower-burden, patient-centred care and thus improve treatment outcomes. To reduce early disengagement from care, the PREFER study will use a sequential mixed-methods approach to describe the characteristics, needs, concerns, and preferences of patients in South Africa and Zambia 0-6 months after ART initiation or re-initiation.

Protocol

PREFER is an observational, prospective cohort study of adults on ART for ≤6 months at 12 public healthcare facilities in Zambia and 18 in South Africa. Its objective is to describe and understand the needs and preferences of initiating and re-initiating ART clients to inform the design of DSD models for the early HIV treatment period, improve early treatment outcomes, and distinguish the barriers encountered by naïve patients from those facing re-initiators. It has four components: 1) survey of clients 0-6 months after ART initiation (identify characteristics and preferences of clients starting ART); 2) follow up through routinely collected medical records for <24 months after enrollment (describe resource utilization and patterns and predictors of engagement in care); 3) focus group discussions and discrete choice experiment (explore reported barriers to and facilitators of retention); and 4) in South Africa only, collection of blood samples (assess the prevalence of ARV metabolites indicating prior ART use).

Conclusions

PREFER aims to understand why the early treatment period is so challenging and how service delivery can be amended to address the obstacles that lead to early disengagement from care. It will generate information about client characteristics and preferences to help respond to patients' needs and design better strategies for service delivery and improve resource allocation going forward.