Challenges with Tracking Patients Living with HIV Lost to Follow Up in a Resource Limited Setting

F. Nelson¹ , V.J. Ganu² , F. Lambert³ , R. Okine⁴ , P. Puplampu⁵ , P.A. Berko⁶

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.6 , Issue.11 , pp.7-11, Nov-2020

Online published on Nov 30, 2020

Copyright © F. Nelson, V.J. Ganu, F. Lambert, R. Okine, P. Puplampu, P.A. Berko . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
High rates of loss to follow up of patients in care is a threat to the success of the HIV programme. The study objective was to determine the predictors of loss to follow up (LTFU) and patient tracking challenges among persons living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy at a tertiary health facility in Accra, Ghana. Review of five-year (2013 - 2018) clinical information from medical records all adult PLHIV initiated on antiretroviral therapy in the year 2013 was conducted to verify their retention in care. Phone interviews to patients lost to follow up were conducted to ascertain reasons for being lost to follow up. Data was analyzed using STATA 15. Approximately 31% (199/648) of patients were lost to follow up over the period with the highest numbers (10.5%,68/648) occurring within the first year. Younger age and higher CD4 cell count at initiation were significant predictors of being LTFU. Only 36.2% of PLHIV who were LTFU had correct and active documented phone numbers in the database which was the only way of tracking patients in care. There were no documented phone contacts for 43.7% of them. For those successfully reached via phone, only 30.8 % were part of the PLHIV cohort initiated on ART whilst the rest were relatives or friends. Commonest reasons for LTFU were undocumented deaths and transfers to other ART clinics. Lost to follow up is a major challenge to success of ART programs. Patient tracking is limited and poorly implemented due to poor documentation.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Lost to follow up, tracking, challenges, HIV, antiretroviral therapy, documentation

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