Table 1. Baseline demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients initiating cART.
| Characteristic | Efavirenz n = 2,376 | Nevirapine n = 1,623 | Protease inhibitors n = 40 | Total n = 4,039 | p-value |
| Male: female | 1,028: 1,348 | 248: 1,375 | 11: 29 | 1,287: 2,752 | <0.0001 |
| Median (range) age | 40 (14–77) | 35 (15–75) | 36 (25–65) | 38 (14–77) | <0.0001 |
| WHO clinical stage n (%) | 0.09 | ||||
| 1 | 165 (6.9) | 106 (6.5) | 2 (5.0) | 273 (6.8) | |
| 2 | 258 (10.9) | 225 (13.9) | 6 (15.0) | 489 (12.1) | |
| 3 | 1274 (53.6) | 867 (53.4) | 25 (62.5) | 2166 (53.6) | |
| 4 | 407 (17.1) | 238 (14.7) | 10 (10.0) | 649 (16.1) | |
| No data | 272 (11.4) | 187 (11.5) | 3 (7.5) | 462 (11.4) | |
| Mean BMI ± SEM | 20.1±0.09 | 20.5±0.10 | 21.0±0.62 | 20.3±0.07 | 0.0025 |
| BMI categories | |||||
| <18.5 kg/m2 | 868 (36.5) | 543 (33.5) | 11 (27.5) | 1422 (35.2) | 0.0047 |
| 18.5–24.5 kg/m2 | 1145 (48.2) | 804 (49.5) | 20 (50.0) | 1969 (48.8) | |
| >24.5 kg/m2 | 291 (12.3) | 246 (15.2) | 6 (15.0) | 543 (13.4) | |
| No data | 72 (3.0) | 30 (1.8) | 3 (7.5) | 105 (2.6) | |
| CD4 count Median (range) | 127.5 (1–1085) | 140.0 (0–676) | 186.0 (1–1134) | 134 (0–1134) | 0.0006 |
| CD4 categories | |||||
| <200 cells/ml | 1684 (70.9) | 1080 (66.5) | 21 (52.5) | 2785 (69.0) | <0.0001 |
| 200–350 cells/ml | 611 (25.7) | 495 (30.5) | 12 (30.0) | 1118 (27.7) | |
| >350 cells/ml | 53 (2.2) | 41 (2.5) | 7 (17.5) | 101 (2.5) | |
| No data | 28 (1.2) | 7 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 35 (0.9) | |
| Median (range) Hemoglobin (g/dl) | 10.2 (2.6–19.4) | 10.2 (3.2–19.8) | 10.9 (6.8–16.3) | 10.2 (2.6–19.8) | 0.07 |
| Mean ± SEM ALT (U/L) | 40.5±0.87 | 32.0±0.75 | 39.3±6.64 | 37.1±0.60 | <0.0001 |
| Mean ± SEM AST (U/L) | 53.6±0.93 | 45.2±0.95 | 51.0±11.6 | 50.2±0.68 | <0.0001 |
| eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2) Median (IQR), n | 64.0 (47.0–83.0) n = 1791 | 71.0 (54.0–89.0) n = 1240 | 66.5 (54.5–89.5) n = 32 | 66.0 (50.0–86.0) n = 3063 | <0.0001 |
| eGFR categories | |||||
| >60ml/min | 1028 (57.4) | 849 (68.5) | 21 (65.6) | 1898 (62.0) | <0.0001 |
| 30–59 ml/min | 638 (35.6) | 345 (27.8) | 11 (34.4) | 994 (32.5) | |
| 15–29 ml/min | 92 (5.1) | 35 (2.8) | 0 (0.0) | 127 (4.1) | |
| <15ml/min | 33 (1.8) | 11 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | 44 (1.4) | |
| HBV co-infection Positive/Negative (%) | 143/761 15.8% | 87/527 14.2% | 3/13 18.8% | 233/1301 15.2% | >0.05 |
| NRTI backbone | |||||
| AZT +3TC | 1083 (45.6) | 819 (50.5) | 23 (57.5) | 1925 (47.7) | <0.0001 |
| D4T +3TC | 1286 (54.1) | 804 (49.5) | 13 (32.5) | 2103 (52.1) | |
| Others | 7 (0.3) | 4 (10.0) | 11 (0.2) |
BMI-Body Mass Index; ALT-Alanine transaminitis; AST- Aspartate transaminitis; eGFR- estimated glomerular filtration rate calculated using Cockroft Gault formula; AZT-zidovudine; 3TC- Lamivudine; d4T- stavudine.