Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and outcomes of children starting ART in each of ten treatment programs in Southern Africa.
| Characteristic | Site A | Site B | Site C* | Site D | Site E* | Site F | Site G | Site H | Site I† | Site J† | All sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients, n (% of total children) | 264 (3.2) | 1086 (13.2) | 266 (3.2) | 2202 (26.8) | 560 (6.8) | 764 (9.3) | 1125 (13.7) | 405 (4.9) | 854 (10.4) | 699 (8.5) | 8225 (100) |
| Age, median (IQR), mo | 120 (81–159) | 45 (16–86) | 48 (19–84) | 57 (22–92) | 45 (21–80) | 100 (58–143) | 39 (19–76) | 73 (33–109) | 16 (6–51) | 22 (9–60) | 49 (18–92) |
| Age group, n (%) | |||||||||||
| <18 mo | 7 (2.7) | 295 (27.2) | 65 (24.4) | 461 (20.9) | 115 (20.5) | 15 (2.0) | 266 (23.6) | 50 (12.3) | 456 (53.4) | 315 (45.1) | 2045 (24.9) |
| 18–59 mo | 43 (16.3) | 358 (32.9) | 93 (35.0) | 714 (32.4) | 232 (41.4) | 188 (24.6) | 478 (42.5) | 112 (27.7) | 216 (25.3) | 215 (30.7) | 2649 (32.2) |
| ≥60 mo | 214 (81.1) | 433 (39.9) | 108 (40.6) | 1027 (46.7) | 213 (38.1) | 561 (73.4) | 381 (33.9) | 243 (60) | 182 (21.3) | 169 (24.2) | 3531 (42.9) |
| Sex | |||||||||||
| Male, n (%) | 121 (45.8) | 539 (49.6) | 147 (55.3) | 1116 (50.7) | 290 (51.8) | 373 (48.8) | 583 (51.8) | 201 (49.6) | 433 (50.7) | 356 (50.9) | 4159 (50.6) |
| Weight-for-age z-score, n (%) | |||||||||||
| ≤−3 | 29/70 (41.4) | 86/367 (23.4) | NA | 162/612 (26.5) | 8/42 (19.1) | 23/104 (22.1) | 185/1038 (17.8) | 20/88 (22.7) | 246/824 (29.9) | 53/158 (33.5) | 812/3302 (24.6) |
| CD4 cell percentage, median (IQR) | NA | 12 (6–17) | NA | 10 (6–15) | 13 (9–19) | 11 (7–16) | 12 (8.5–17) | 8 (4–13) | 12 (7.6–19) | 15 (9–23) | 11.6 (7–17) |
| No. of observations | NA | 585 | NA | 1577 | 290 | 245 | 627 | 185 | 823 | 379 | 4711 |
| Imputed values, median (IQR) | 11 (6.4–16) ‡ | 13 (7.9–19) | 14 (8.8–19) ‡ | 11 (6.7–16) | 13 (9–19) | 12 (7.8–18) | 13 (9–19) | 11 (6–17) | 12 (7.6–19) | 15 (9.8–22) | 12.6 (7.8–18.0) |
| Viral load | |||||||||||
| Children with > 1Mio copies/ml, n (%) | NA | 55/487 (11.3) | 2/112 (1.8) | 316/1731 (18.3) | 57/343 (16.6) | NA | NA | 3/9 (33.3) | 235/759 (31.0) | 177/460 (38.5) | 59/3901 (21.7) |
| log10 copies/ml, median (IQR) | NA | 5.24 (4.70–5.70) | 5.04 (4.65–5.56) | 5.30 (4.72–5.87) | 5.15 (4.42–5.68) | NA | NA | 5.88 (5.54–6.04) | 5.66 (5.15–6.18) | 5.78 (5.20–6.25) | 5.40 (4.81–5.92) |
| Hemoglobin (g/dl) | |||||||||||
| <8, n (%) | 13/187 (7.0) | 10/179 (5.6) | 6/92 (6.5) | 14/288 (4.9) | 7/180 (3.9) | NA | 68/416 (16.4) | 24/243 (9.9) | 129/820 (15.7) | 62/468 (13.3) | 334/2874 (11.6) |
| WHO immunological classification | |||||||||||
| Advanced/Severe, n (%) | 128/152 (84.2) | 490/586(83.6) | NA | 1335/1587 (84.1) | 266/324 (82.1) | NA | 499/627 (79.6) | 191/211 (90.5) | 693/823 (84.2) | 311/398 (78.1) | 4153/5035 (82.5) |
| WHO clinical stages | |||||||||||
| III and IV, n (%) | NA | NA | 186/266 (69.9) | 968/1520 (63.7) | 422/560 (75.4) | 659/680 (96.9) | 773/995 (77.7) | NA | 735/835 (88.0) | 423/470 (90.0) | 4487/5725 (78.4) |
| Imputed values, n (%) | 202 (76.3) | 827 (76.2) | 186 (69.9) | 1481 (67.3) | 422 (75.4) | 726 (95.0) | 875 (77.8) | 314 (77.6) | 752 (88.1) | 613 (87.7) | 6398 (77.8) |
| TB treatment at start of ART, n (%) | NA | NA | NA | 534 (24.3) | 91 (16.3) | NA | 246 (21.9) | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Outcomes & | |||||||||||
| Months of follow-up, median (IQR) | 14.9 (7.7–23.7) | 18.0 (5.6–30.7) | 25.7 (16.3–35.7) | 16.6 (6.4–28.7) | 24.3 (12.9–39.1) | 12.1 (3.3–28.8) | 24.4 (13.5–35.7) | 15.3 (5.4–26.1) | 8.7 (4.0–18.1) | 18.9 (6.1–33.5) | 17.3 (6.7–30.0) |
| Deaths, n (%) | 24 (9.1) | 49 (4.5) | 3 (1.1) | 113 (5.1) | 11 (2.0) | 29 (3.8) | 14 (1.2) | 24 (5.9) | 121 (14.2) | 67 (9.6) | 455 (5.5) |
| Loss to follow-up, n (%) # | 6/231 (2.6) | 125/965 (13.0) | 5/258 (1.9) | 176/1934 (9.1) | 37/536 (6.9) | 97/701 (13.8) | 155/1090 (14.2) | 13/346 (3.8) | 69/777 (8.9) | 34/644 (5.3) | 717/7482 (9.6) |
| Transfer-out, n (%) | 0 (0) | 66 (6.1) | 25 (9.4) | 143 (6.5) | 55 (9.8) | 174 (22.8) | 17 (1.5) | 33 (8.2) | 389 (45.6) | 274 (39.2) | 1176 (14.3) |
| Alive and in care, n (%) | 234 (88.6) | 846 (77.9) | 225 (84.6) | 1753 (79.6) | 455 (81.3) | 418 (54.7) | 935 (83.1) | 322 (79.5) | 273 (32.0) | 313 (44.8) | 5774 (70.2) |
| Others/unknown, n (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 8 (3.0) | 17 (0.8) | 2 (0.4) | 46 (6.0) | 4 (0.4) | 13 (3.2) | 2 (0.2) | 11 (1.6) | 103 (1.3) |
*
Community based program in South Africa;
†
Tertiary level of care;
‡
All values imputed;
&
During the months of follow-up indicated;
#
Among children with >6 months of follow-up; NA, not available