Table 1.

Characteristics of ART programmes tracing patients lost to follow-up (LTFU) in sub-Saharan Africa

Study/Region	Location	Country	Setting	Study population	LTFU definition	Tracing method	Study period
East Africa
Geng (2008) [29]	Mbarara	Uganda	Rural	Adults	No visit for >6 months	Home visit	2004–2007
Alamo (2012) [44, 61]	Kampala	Uganda	Urban	Adults	No visit for >90 days	Home visit, buddy contact	2001–2010
Makunde (2012) [26]	Tanga City	Tanzania	Urban	Adults	No visit for >3 months	Home visit	2006–2008
Kiragga (2013) [19]	Kampala	Uganda	Urban	Adults	No visit for >3 months	Telephone, home visit	2005–2007
Wubshet (2013) [42]	Gondar	Ethiopia	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment >3 months	Home visit	2005–2010
Geng (2015) [5]	–	Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment >90 days	Home visit	2009–2012
Mekuria (2015) [39]	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	Urban	Adults	No visit for >1 month,	Telephone	2009–2012
Rachlis (2015) [37]	Nyanza	Kenya	Urban	Mostly adults	No visit >3 months	Home visit	2009–2011
West Africa
Mben (2012) [34]	Yaounde	Cameroon	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment >1 month	Telephone, home visit, relatives	2006–2007
Onoka (2012) [20]	Emuga State	Nigeria	Mostly urban	Adults	Missed ≥3 appointments	Telephone, home visit	2007–2007
Saka (2013) [41]	Lome	Togo	Mostly urban	Adults	–	Telephone	2008–2011
Southern Africa
Maskew (2007) [38]	Johannesburg	South Africa	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment	Telephone	2006–2007
Yu (2007) [32]	Four facilities	Malawi	Rural	Mostly adults	No visit for >3 months	Home visit	2004–2006
Bisson (2008) [31]	Gaborone	Botswana	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment >1 month	Telephone, home visit	2003–2003
Dalai (2008) [24]	Johannesburg	South Africa	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment for ≥6 weeks	Telephone, home visit	2004–2005
Krebs (2008) [25]	Lusaka	Zambia	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment	Home visit	2005–2005
Caluwaerts (2009) [36]	Tete	Mozambique	Urban	Adults	No visit for >60 days	Home visit	2002–2007
Boulle (2010) [7]	Khayelitsha	South Africa	Urban	Adults	No visit for > 6 months	Linkage	2001–2007
Fox (2010) [18]	Johannesburg	South Africa	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment ≥3 months	Linkage	2004–2008
McGuire (2010) [27]	Chiradzulu	Malawi	Rural	Adults	Missed appointment >1 month	Home visit	2004–2007
McGuire (2010) [27]	Chiradzulu	Malawi	Rural	Children	Missed appointment >1 month	Home visit	2004–2007
Peltzer (2011) [28]	Uthukela	South Africa	Mostly urban	Adults	Missed appointment ≥2 months	Telephone, home visit	2007–2008
Van Cutsem (2011) [21]	Cape Town	South Africa	Urban	Adults	No visit for >6 months	Linkage	2001–2008
Weigel (2011) [35]	Lilongwe	Malawi	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment >2 weeks	Telephone, home visit	2002–2005
Weigel (2011) [35]	Lilongwe	Malawi	Urban	Children	Missed appointment >2 weeks	Telephone, home visit	2002–2005
Grimwood (2012) [17]	4 provinces	South Africa	Mostly urban	Children	No visit for ≥3 months	Linkage	2004–2009
Henriques (2012) [30]	Chiradzulu	Malawi	Rural	Adults	Missed appointment >1 month	Home visit	2004–2007
Mutevedzi (2013) [22]	Hlabisa	South Africa	Rural	Adults	No visit for 180 days	Linkage	2004–2011
Tweya (2013) [40]	Lilongwe	Malawi	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment >3 weeks	Telephone, home visit	2006–2010
Cornell (2014) [10]	4 provinces	South Africa	Mostly urban	Adults	No visit for ≥6 months	Linkage	2004–2009
Ardura-Garcia (2015) [23]	Lilongwe	Malawi	Urban	Children	Missed appointment ≥3 weeks	Home visit	2006–2010
Budgell (2015) [33]	Johannesburg	South Africa	Urban	Adults	Missed appointment ≥3 months	Linkage	2004–2013

–, not reported.