Table 2.
Clinical and demographic characteristics of the “Monitoring of Antiretroviral Therapy in Children” cohort participants.
| Overall | Study site | P value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 306 (100) | Kampala n = 91 (29.7) |
Fort Portal n = 112 (36.6) |
Mbale n = 103 (33.7) |
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| Sex | Male | 152 (49.8) | 43 (47.3) | 55 (49.1) | 54 (52.9) | 0.719 |
|
| ||||||
| Age, median years (IQR) | 4.8 (2.2–8.6) | 4.0 (1.5–8.5) | 4.2 (1.9–8.5) | 5.8 (3.0–8.7) | 0.127 | |
|
| ||||||
| Age groups | <2 years old | 76 (24.8) | 32 (35.2) | 29 (25.9) | 15 (14.6) | 0.005 |
| 2–5 years old | 84 (27.5) | 18 (19.8) | 37 (33.0) | 29 (28.2) | ||
| 5–12 years old | 146 (47.7) | 41 (45.1) | 46 (41.1) | 59 (57.3) | ||
|
| ||||||
| Age at (first) confirmed HIV+ test | Median (IQR) | 3.7 (1.6–6.8) | 3.0 (1.3–7.2) | 3.3 (1.1–6.8) | 4.5 (2.7–6.8) | 0.264 |
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| ||||||
| WHO clinical stage | Stages 3 and 4 | 221 (72.2) | 36 (39.6) | 92 (82.1) | 93 (90.3) | <0.001 |
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| HIV-TB coinfection | Pulmonary tuberculosis | 31 (10.1) | 18 (19.8) | 6 (5.4) | 7 (6.8) | 0.001 |
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| Severe immunodeficiencya | CD4 count-for-age | 67 (31.0) | 36 (40.0) | 9 (21.4) | 22 (26.2) | 0.047 |
| CD4 %-for-age | 102 (51.3) | 57 (63.3) | 18 (42.9) | 27 (40.3) | 0.008 | |
|
| ||||||
| Viral load, median log10 cps/mL (IQR)c | 5.0 (4.4–5.5) | 5.2 (4.7–5.6) | 5.1 (4.2–5.5) | 4.7 (4.1–5.3) | 0.001 | |
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| ||||||
| Main reason for ART initiationd | HIV diagnosis <24 months | 30 (9.8) | 20 (22.0) | 9 (8.0) | 1 (1.0) | <0.001 |
| Immunological status | 102 (33.3) | 55 (61.4) | 25 (22.3) | 22 (21.4) | ||
| WHO clinical stage | 174 (56.9) | 16 (17.6) | 78 (69.6) | 80 (77.7) | ||
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| ||||||
| Time between HIV test and ART initiation, median days (IQR) | <2 years old | 43 (19–85) | 40 (18–66) | 48 (23–103) | 43 (26–86) | 0.299 |
| 2–5 years old | 97 (26–400) | 117 (34–309) | 197 (29–546) | 64 (15–180) | 0.302 | |
| 5–12 years old | 258 (29–802) | 242 (28–634) | 296 (35–757) | 216 (21–848) | 0.474 | |
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| PMTCT exposed | Yes | 14 (4.6) | 11 (12.1) | 3 (2.7) | — | <0.001 |
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| Drugs for PMTCT | Single dose NVP | 9 (2.9) | 6 (6.6) | 3 (2.7) | — | 0.025 |
| NVP | 4 (1.3) | 4 (4.4) | — | — | 0.008 | |
| AZT | 2 (0.7) | 2 (2.2) | — | — | 0.093 | |
| Unknown | 1 (0.3) | 1 (1.1) | — | — | 0.306 | |
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| Breastfeeding | Yes | 24 (7.9) | 10 (11.1) | 12 (10.7) | 2 (1.9) | 0.023 |
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| “Is there enough food in the household?” | Yes | 300 (98.0) | 87 (95.6) | 110 (98.2) | 103 (100.0) | 0.087 |
Data are presented as n (%) unless otherwise indicated.
aSevere immunodeficiency, defined as CD4 percentage < 25% or CD4 count < 1500 cps/mm3 below 12 months old, CD4 percentage < 20% or CD4 count < 750 cps/mm3 between 12 and 35 months old, and CD4 percentage <15% or CD4 count < 350 cps/mm3 above 35 months old.
bCD4 count based on n = 218; CD4 percentage based on n = 201.
cViral load based on n = 184.
dMain reason for initiation as indicated by clinician.