Table 3.

Gender-specific ART attrition in relation to baseline clinical and sociodemographic characteristics among an HIV-positive cohort in the Zimbabwe National ART Programme (2007–2010)

Patient characteristics (N = 3919)a	Attritionb
	Males (n = 1393)				Females (n = 2514)
	HR (95% CI)	p-Value	AHR (95% CI)c	p-Value	HR (95% CI)	p-Value	AHR (95% CI)c	p-Value
Socio-demographics
Age group, years
15–29	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
30–39	0.92 (0.66–1.28)	0.599	0.98 (0.66–1.46)	0.920	0.88 (0.74–1.04)	0.119	0.91 (0.77–1.08)	0.277
40–49	0.78 (0.55–1.12)	0.175	0.86 (0.55–1.34)	0.485	0.71 (0.53–0.96)	0.029	0.72 (0.51–1.02)	0.064
50 and above	0.80 (0.61–1.04)	0.090	0.96 (0.69–1.34)	0.805	0.66 (0.45–0.96)	0.033	0.70 (0.45–1.08)	0.100
Weight category, kg
60+	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
45–60	1.39 (1.08–1.79)	0.012	1.37 (1.06–1.76)	0.017	1.20 (0.96–1.50)	0.105	1.15 (0.91–1.46)	0.237
<45	2.06 (1.44–2.94)	<0.001	1.82 (1.18–2.81)	0.009	2.02 (1.44–2.83)	<0.001	1.92 (1.36–2.73)	0.001
Clinical characteristics
WHO clinical stage, %
1–2	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
3	1.47 (0.93–2.34)	0.098	1.29 (0.89–1.88)	0.174	1.12 (0.74–1.70)	0.590	1.05 (0.66–1.67)	0.832
4	1.95 (1.29–2.94)	0.003	1.87 (1.28–2.73)	0.003	1.64 (1.03–2.58)	0.036	1.54 (0.88–2.67)	0.123
Active TB (PTB or EPTB), %
No	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
Yes	0.71 (0.46–1.10)	0.119	0.80 (0.53–1.23)	0.289	0.91 (0.61–1.35)	0.615	0.95 (0.67–1.34)	0.759
Prior TB (PTB or EPTB), %
No	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
Yes	0.82 (0.50–1.35)	0.431	0.84 (0.49–1.45)	0.521	0.91 (0.60–1.38)	0.647	0.85 (0.64–1.13)	0.254
CD4 count category, cells/ml
≥200	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
50–200	1.03 (0.70–1.52)	0.870	0.99 (0.70–1.41)	0. 960	1.07 (0.79–1.43)	0.652	0.97 (0.75–1.27)	0.831
<50	1.39 (0.96–2.00)	0.081	1.25 (0.87–1.80)	0.206	1.64 (1.13–2.37)	0.014	1.39 (0.95–2.03)	0.085
Level of healthcare
Primary healthcare facility	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
District/mission hospital	2.67 (0.89–8.04)	0.078	4.47 (1.36–14.67)	0.015	3.10 (1.29–7.47)	0.013	7.37 (2.32–23.36)	0.001
Central/provincial hospital	3.51 (1.25–9.83)	0.018	3.52 (1.12–11.11)	0.033	3.85 (1.69–8.76)	0.002	4.74 (1.55–14.53)	0.008
Site type
Rural	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
Urban	1.74 (1.02–2.98)	0.043	2.48 (1.06–5.81)	0.037	1.73 (0.94–3.20)	0.076	3.12 (1.29–7.51)	0.013
OI/ART clinic site sized
50–999	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
1000+	1.70 (0.95–3.02)	0.072	0.87 (0.50–1.52)	0.618	1.51 (0.81–2.81)	0.186	0.81 (0.40–1.67)	0.565

ART, antiretroviral therapy; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; AHR, adjusted hazard ratio; WHO, World Health Organization; TB, tuberculosis; OI, opportunistic infection; PTB, pulmonary TB; EPTB, extrapulmonary TB; N = total number of patients with recorded data for each variable.

The bold font was meant to highlight all analysis which had significant p-values (i.e. p <0.05).

^aSex is missing for 12 patients.

^bAttrition refers to patients who were documented as having died, stopped ART, or were lost to follow-up (a patient absent from a healthcare facility for more than 90 days after his/her last scheduled appointment with the healthcare provider or pharmacy).

^cHazard ratios have been adjusted for potential confounding effects of age, baseline weight, baseline CD4 count, baseline WHO staging, prior/current TB, anaemia, patient residence, and size of OI/ART clinic.

^dOI/ART clinic site size refers to the number of patients enrolled on ART at an opportunistic infections/antiretroviral therapy clinic as at December 31, 2009.