BackgroundThere are conflicting reports of antiretroviral therapy (ART) effectiveness comparisons between primary healthcare (PHC) facilities and hospitals in low-income settings. This comparison has not been evaluated on a broad scale in South Africa.Methodology/Principal FindingsA retrospective cohort study was conducted including ART-naïve adults from 59 facilities in four provinces in South Africa, enrolled between 2004 and 2007. Kaplan-Meier estimates, competing-risks Cox regression, generalised estimating equation population-averaged models and logistic regression were used to compare death, loss to follow-up (LTFU) and virological suppression (VS) between PHC, district and regional hospitals. 29 203 adults from 47 PHC facilities, nine district hospitals and three regional hospitals were included. Patients at PHC facilities had more advanced WHO stage disease when starting ART. Retention in care was 80.1% (95% CI: 79.3%–80.8%), 71.5% (95% CI: 69.1%–73.8%) and 68.7% (95% CI: 67.0%–69.7%) at PHC, district and regional hospitals respectively, after 24 months of treatment (P<0.0001). In adjusted regression analyses, LTFU was independently increased at regional hospitals (aHR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.94−2.47) and mortality was independently elevated at district hospitals (aHR 1.60; 95% CI: 1.30−1.99) compared to PHC facilities after 12 months of ART. District and regional hospital patients had independently reduced probabilities of VS, aOR 0.76 (95% CI: 0.59−0.97) and 0.64 (95% CI: 0.56−0.75) respectively compared to PHC facilities over 24 months of treatment.Conclusions/SignificanceART outcomes were superior at PHC facilities, despite PHC patients having more advanced clinical stage disease when starting ART, suggesting that ART can be adequately provided at this level and supporting the South African government's call for rapid up-scaling of ART at the primary level of care. Further prospective research is required to determine the degree to which outcome differences are attributable to either facility level characteristics or patient co-morbidity at hospital level.
Background. South Africa (SA) has the highest burden of childhood HIV infection globally, and has high rates of adolescent and youth pregnancy. Objective. To explore risks associated with pregnancy in young HIVinfected women, we compared mothertochild transmission (MTCT) of HIV and maternal and infant health outcomes according to maternal age categories. Methods. A cohort of HIVpositive pregnant women and their infants were followed up at three sentinel surveillance facilities in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan (NMBM) district, Eastern Cape Province, SA. Young women were defined as ≤24 years old and adolescents as ≤19 years. The effect of younger maternal age categories on MTCT and maternal and child health outcomes was assessed using logbinomial and Cox regression controlling for confounding, using women aged >24 years as the comparison group. Results. Of 956 mothers, 312 (32.6%) were young women; of these, 65 (20.8%) were adolescents. The proportion of young pregnant women increased by 24% between 2009/10 and 2011/12 (from 28.3% to 35.1%). Young women had an increased risk of being unaware of their HIV status when booking (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 1.37; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21 1.54), a reduced rate of antenatal antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake (adjusted hazard ratio 0.46; 95% CI 0.31 0.67), reduced early infant HIV diagnosis (aRR 0.94; 95% CI 0.94 0.94), and increased MTCT (aRR 3.07; 95% CI 1.18 7.96; adjusted for ART use). Of all vertical transmissions, 56% occurred among young women. Additionally, adolescents had increased risks of first presentation during labour (aRR 3.78; 95% CI 1.06 13.4); maternal mortality (aRR 35.1; 95% CI 2.89 426) and stillbirth (aRR 3.33; 95% CI 1.53 7.25).Conclusion. An increasing proportion of pregnant HIVpositive women in NMBM were young, and they had increased MTCT and poorer maternal and infant outcomes than older women. Interventions targeting young women are increasingly needed to reduce pregnancy, HIV infection and MTCT and improve maternal and infant outcomes if SA is to attain its Millennium Development Goals.
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