Moderate incidence of lost follow-up and risk factors among adult HIV patients on second-line ART regimens in Amhara region hospitals, Ethiopia

Background and Objectives: Loss to follow-up is a common problem of most patients on antiretroviral therapy in Ethiopia. Second-line antiretroviral therapy is the drug that would be used when the first-line therapy fails. Thus this study intends to determine the incidence and risk factors of time to losses to follow up among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients on second line regimens of Antiretroviral Therapy(ART) in Amhara region Hospitals, Ethiopia. Methods: Institutional based retrospective cohort study was conducted in the Amhara region hospitals from February to March 2016. A total of 1246 patient from eight hospitals in Amhara region were selected using simple random sampling method and data were extracted from patient charts. The log rank test was used to assess presence of significant difference in time to losses to follow among levels of categorical variables. Both bi-variiable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors that affect the time to losses to follow up. Results: The cumulative incidence of loss to follow up was 5.41% over the entire (eight) years of follow-up. The cumulative incidence rates of death and transfer out were 10.99%,10.02 %, respectively. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, ambulatory functional status (AHR=0.1967, 95% CI: 0.049- 0 .794), male gender (AHR=2.135, 95% CI: 1.053- 4.330), adherence to ART (AHR=0.442, 95% CI: 0.198- 0.989) were significant predictors of time to losses to follow up. The use of 2a, 2e and 2g types of second line regimen reduced the risk of loss to follow up. Interpretations and Conclusions: The incidence of loss to follow up in Amhara region hospitals was low. Loss to folow up was negatively associated with female gender, ambulatory baseline functional status, adherence, & types of second line regimen types. Further research on the effect of types of drug is recommended by acertaining whether the reduction in loss to follow up for patients who took drug types of 2a, 2e, and 2g is associaed with improved or worsened health outcomes by trafcking lost patients closely.