Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Influence of gender on loss to follow-up in a large HIV treatment programme in western Kenya

Vincent Ochieng-Ooko, Daniel Ochieng, John E Sidle, Margaret Holdsworth, Kara Wools-Kaloustian, Abraham M Siika, Constantin T Yiannoutsos, Michael Owiti, Sylvester Kimaiyo & Paula Braitstein

Volume 88, Number 9, September 2010, 681-688

Table 5. Variables associated with being lost to follow-up in patients attending clinics for the treatment of HIV infection, by gender, on multivariate analysis, Kenya, 2001–2007

Variable	OR for attending no follow-up visits and being lost to follow-up						HR for being lost to follow-up for patients who attended one or more follow-up visits
							From enrolment						Before cART initiation						After cART initiation
	Men (n = 8 930)			Women (n = 20 446)			Men (n = 11 382)			Women (n = 25 532)			Men (n = 11 076)			Women (n = 24 734)			Men (n = 6 466)			Women (n = 13 863)
	Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI		Value	95% CI
Age (≥ 36.2 years versus < 36.2 years)	0.63	0.46–0.85		0.40	0.32–0.49		0.68	0.62–0.73		0.61	0.58–0.65		0.64	0.57–0.71		0.64	0.59–0.69		0.61	0.54–0.70		0.58	0.54–0.64
Disclosure of HIV+ status at enrolment (yes versus no)	0.81	0.59–1.11		0.54	0.44–0.66		0.84	0.78–0.91		0.87	0.83–0.92		0.78	0.70–0.88		0.83	0.77–0.89		0.87	0.77–0.99		0.95	0.87–1.04
Travel time to the clinic ≥ 1 hour (yes versus no)	1.43	1.06–1.94		0.91	0.74–1.11		1.12	1.04–1.21		1.04	0.99–1.10		1.03	0.92–1.15		1.07	1.00–1.16		1.15	1.02–1.29		1.09	1.00–1.19
Ever having received cART (yes versus no)	0.02	0.01–0.04		0.10	0.08–0.13		0.21	0.19–0.23		0.26	0.24–0.28		NA	NA		NA	NA		NA	NA		NA	NA
CD4+ lymphocyte count at enrolment (≥ 200 cells/µl versus < 200 cells/µl)	2.11	1.36–3.28		4.75	3.15–7.14		0.58	0.52–0.64		0.60	0.56–0.64		1.52	1.33–1.74		1.20	1.09–1.33		0.97	0.85–1.11		0.98	0.90–1.07
WHO HIV disease (stage III/IV versus I/II)	5.06	3.64–7.04		2.04	1.65–2.51		1.86	1.72–2.03		1.55	1.46–1.64		1.54	1.37–1.72		1.54	1.42–1.67		1.55	1.37–1.76		1.20	1.10–1.30
Attending an urban clinic (yes versus no)	0.61	0.45–0.83		0.64	0.52–0.78		0.86	0.80–0.93		0.88	0.83–0.92		0.78	0.70–0.87		0.85	0.78–0.91		1.02	0.91–1.15		0.93	0.85–1.01
Period of enrolment (2007 or 2005–2006 versus 2001–2004)	0.11	0.08–0.14		0.16	0.14–0.19		0.58	0.54–0.62		0.59	0.56–0.62		0.64	0.58–0.70		0.67	0.63–0.71		0.82	0.73–0.91		0.86	0.80–0.94

cART, combination antiretroviral therapy; CI, confidence interval; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HR, hazards ratio; NA, not applicable; OR, odds ratio; WHO, World Health Organization.