Abstract:

Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) retention continues to be a challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding factors that contribute to default at the early stage of ART can contribute to avoid poor treatment outcomes. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study on adult patients who initiated ART treatment between October 2019 and September 2020 in 25 health facilities in the West region of Cameroon. Early ART default was defined as having default within the first three months of treatment. The mean age of the 2219 clients included in the analysis was 36.8 (SD:13.4), and 838 (36.5%) were male. The median time to the first ART default of the 629 (28.3%) participants who experienced at least one ART default within 12 months after their ART initiation was 5 months, and 41.2% of those defaults occurred within the first three months of ART. Male gender (AOR =1.3; 95%CI:1.1-1.7) and good health at initiation (AOR =1.7; 95%CI:1.3-2.2) were associated with a high risk of early default; while being followed up in a private facility (AOR =0.3; 95%CI:0.2-0.6) were associated with less risk of early default. The ART default at the early stage of HIV care is high in the West region of Cameroon and more frequent in the male gender and in patients with apparent good health at the time of ART initiation. Interventions should be identified and implemented to ensure continuity of ART treatment especially in males, in clients with good health at the time of ART initiation, and in clients on care in public health facilities.

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