Browsing by Author "Cesar C"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Global trends in CD4 count measurement and distribution at first antiretroviral treatment initiation.
    (2024-Nov-06) de Waal R; Wools-Kaloustian K; Brazier E; Althoff KN; Jaquet A; Duda SN; Kumarasamy N; Savory T; Byakwaga H; Murenzi G; Justice A; Ekouevi DK; Cesar C; Pasayan MKU; Thawani A; Kasozi C; Babakazo P; Karris M; Messou E; Cortes CP; Kunzekwenyika C; Choi JY; Owarwo NC; Niyongabo A; Marconi VC; Ezechi O; Castilho JL; Petoumenos K; Johnson L; Ford N; Kassanjee R; Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, USA.; Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, City University of New York, USA.; National Institute for Health and Medical Research UMR 1219, Research Institute for Sustainable Development EMR 271, Bordeaux Population Health Research Centre, University of Bordeaux, France.; Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa. CIDER, Level 3 Falmouth Building, Anzio Road, Observatory, 7925, South Africa.; Association Nationale de Soutien aux Séropositifs et malades du SIDA-Santé PLUS (ANSS-Santé PLUS), Burundi.; Kinshasa School of Public Health, University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.; Centre for Reproduction and Population Health Studies, Nigerian Institute for Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.; Infectious Diseases Medical Centre, CART CRS, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India.; Fundacion Huesped, Argentina.; Emory University School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, USA.; Research for Development (RD Rwanda), and Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda.; Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa City, Philippines.; Université de Lomé, Centre de Formation et de Recherche en Santé Publique, Lomé, Togo.; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA.; Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, and Hospital Clínico San Borja Arriarán & Fundación Arriarán, Santiago, Chile.; Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA.; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Yale Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Yale University, USA.; Department of Community Health, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda.; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.; The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.; Lighthouse Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi.; Centre de Prise en charge, de Recherche et de Formation (CePReF) Yopougon-Attié, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.; Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.; SolidarMed  Zimbabwe.; Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University, Uganda.; Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, TN, USA.; Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, Masaka City, Uganda.; Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, USA.; Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.; CIDRZ; Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)
    BACKGROUND: While people with HIV (PWH) start antiretroviral treatment (ART) regardless of CD4 count, CD4 measurement remains crucial for detecting advanced HIV disease and evaluating ART programmes. We explored CD4 measurement (proportion of PWH with a CD4 result available) and prevalence of CD4 <200 cells/µL at ART initiation within the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) global collaboration. METHODS: We included PWH at participating ART programmes who first initiated ART at age 15-80 years during 2005-2019. We described proportions of PWH (i) with CD4 (measured within 6 months before to 2 weeks after ART initiation); and (ii) among those with a CD4, with CD4 <200; by year of ART initiation and region. RESULTS: We included 1,355,104 PWH from 42 countries in 7 regions; 63% were female. Median (interquartile range) age at ART initiation was 37 (31-44) in men and 32 (26-39) in women. CD4 measurement initially increased, or remained stable over time until around 2013, but then declined to low levels in some regions (Southern Africa, except South Africa: from 54 to 13%; East Africa 85 to 31%; Central Africa 72 to 20%; West Africa: 91 to 53%; and Latin America: 87 to 56%). Prevalence of CD4<200 declined over time in all regions, but plateaued after 2015 at ≥30%. CONCLUSIONS: CD4 measurement has declined sharply in recent years, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Among those with a CD4, the prevalence of CD4 <200 remains concerningly high. Scaling up CD4 testing and securing adequate funding are urgent priorities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Universal definition of loss to follow-up in HIV treatment programs: a statistical analysis of 111 facilities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
    (2011-Oct) Chi BH; Yiannoutsos CT; Westfall AO; Newman JE; Zhou J; Cesar C; Brinkhof MW; Mwango A; Balestre E; Carriquiry G; Sirisanthana T; Mukumbi H; Martin JN; Grimsrud A; Bacon M; Thiebaut R; University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America. bchi@cidrz.org; CIDRZ; Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)
    BACKGROUND: Although patient attrition is recognized as a threat to the long-term success of antiretroviral therapy programs worldwide, there is no universal definition for classifying patients as lost to follow-up (LTFU). We analyzed data from health facilities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to empirically determine a standard LTFU definition. METHODS AND FINDINGS: At a set "status classification" date, patients were categorized as either "active" or "LTFU" according to different intervals from time of last clinic encounter. For each threshold, we looked forward 365 d to assess the performance and accuracy of this initial classification. The best-performing definition for LTFU had the lowest proportion of patients misclassified as active or LTFU. Observational data from 111 health facilities-representing 180,718 patients from 19 countries-were included in this study. In the primary analysis, for which data from all facilities were pooled, an interval of 180 d (95% confidence interval [CI]: 173-181 d) since last patient encounter resulted in the fewest misclassifications (7.7%, 95% CI: 7.6%-7.8%). A secondary analysis that gave equal weight to cohorts and to regions generated a similar result (175 d); however, an alternate approach that used inverse weighting for cohorts based on variance and equal weighting for regions produced a slightly lower summary measure (150 d). When examined at the facility level, the best-performing definition varied from 58 to 383 d (mean=150 d), but when a standard definition of 180 d was applied to each facility, only slight increases in misclassification (mean=1.2%, 95% CI: 1.0%-1.5%) were observed. Using this definition, the proportion of patients classified as LTFU by facility ranged from 3.1% to 45.1% (mean=19.9%, 95% CI: 19.1%-21.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Based on this evaluation, we recommend the adoption of ≥180 d since the last clinic visit as a standard LTFU definition. Such standardization is an important step to understanding the reasons that underlie patient attrition and establishing more reliable and comparable program evaluation worldwide. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.