Table 1.

Trial background characteristics at baseline

Trial indicators	BCPP	MaxART	PopART	SEARCH	ANRS TasP
Census and demographic
Residency	Rural and peri‐urban	Peri‐urban and rural	Peri‐urban	Rural	Rural
Young in population living in trial area (%)b	42% aged <16 or >64 years oldb 36	38% aged <15 years oldc (2013) 37	SA: 26% aged ≤15 years oldb Z: 40% aged ≤15 years oldb	50% aged <15 years oldb	30% aged <15 years oldc (2013) 38
Median age of research study population (years)a	40 years old [IQR: 33 to 48]a	33 years old [IQR: 24 to 45]a	27 years old [IQR: 22 to 33]a	29 years old [IQR: 20 to 43]a 28	32 years old [IQR: 22 to 52]a 34
Female in research study population (%)a	64%a	64%a	SA: 69%a Z: 72%a	53%a 28	70%a 29
Labour and poverty
Unemployed working‐age population (%)	59%a	42%c (2013) 39	SA: 72%a Z: 77%a	5%a 28	90%a 34
Population living under the national poverty lines (%)	15%c (2010) 40	63%c (2009) 41	SA: 54%c (2010) 42 Z: 46%c (2010) 43	U: 19%c (2012) 44 K: 46%c (2005) 45	54% (2010)c 42
Education and health
Adult population with primary education or less (%)	31%a	31%a	SA: 13%a Z: 35%a	71%a 28	41%a 34
HIV prevalence (%)	29% among 16 to 64 years olda (2013) 30	29% among >15 years oldc (2015) 31	SA: 22% among 18 to 44 years olda (2014) Z: 21% among 18 to 44 years olda (2014)	SW‐U: 7% among ≥15 years olda (2013) 32 E‐U: 3% among ≥15 years olda (2013) 32 K: 20% among ≥15 years olda (2013) 32	30% among >15 years olda (2012) 29
HIV+ population on ART (%)	73% among >15 years olda 30	85% among >15 years oldc (2013) 33	SA: 30% among 18 to 44 years olda Z: 39% among 18 to 44 years olda	57% among ≥15 years olda 32	38% among >15 years olda 34
Status of UNAIDS 90/90/90 targetsd	83% of the HIV+ aged 16 to 64 years in the study population knew their status; of those 87% were taking ART; of those, 96.5% were virally suppressed (HIV RNA<400 copies/ml). The estimated population‐level viral suppression among HIV+ adults was 70%a 30.	Estimates are unavailable at this time	SA: Estimates are unavailable at this time Z: 54% of the HIV+ aged ≥18 years old in the study population knew their HIV+ status; of those 81% were taking ARTa 46.	68% of the HIV+ in the study population knew their status; of those 80% had received ART; of those, 86% were virally suppressed (HIV RNA<500 copies/ml). The estimated population‐level viral suppression among HIV+ adults was 47% at baselinea 32	At the beginning of the trial, 85.8% were estimated to be diagnosed; of those, 37.1% to be engaged in care and actively on ART; on those 77.8% with a documented viral load and virally suppressed 47. Note that trial start corresponds to different time points as all clusters were not opened at same time.

^aDenotes the research study population, which is the population in which the primary outcome and main secondary outcomes (among adults) are being measured. (The eligibility criteria for the research study population are specified in Table 3). Data were collected at baseline by the trial team and extracted from publications and conference abstracts.

^bDenotes the population living in the trial area; data collected at baseline by the trial team.

^cDenotes the populations of the countries in which the trials have been implemented; data from national surveys. IQR: Interquartile range; SA: South Africa; Z: Zambia; K: Kenya; U: Uganda; SW‐U: Southwestern Uganda; E‐U: Eastern Uganda.

^dQuantitative comparison of the estimates 90‐90‐90 UNAIDS targets at baseline should be performed cautiously, as there is no standard methodology across trials to compute these figures and is the focus of a separate cross‐trial collaboration.