Analysis of the follow-up of AIDS patients with ARV treatment at the Treichville sexually transmitted disease center of the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP), Abidjan, from 2009 to 2013.

Introduction: free access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment has made possible the large-scale management of people living with HIV (PLHIV). Nonetheless, some of them abandon treatment and thus become lost to follow-up. Retention is therefore a challenge for treatment programs, especially in resource-limited countries. To improve retention of patients in our active file, we undertook this study, aimed generally at analyzing the follow-up of our patients on ARV. Materials and méthods: This cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective, and analytical study covered the period from January 2009 to December 2013 at the Treichville sexually transmitted disease (STD) center and reviewed the records of all AIDS patients with ARV treatment aged 16 years and older with complete records. All patients who had not consulted again within 3 months of their last treatment visit were considered lost to follow-up.

Results: This study involved 346 patient records. Their average age was 37.5 years, with a sex ratio of 2.17 in favor of women. The overall dropout rate (percentage of patients lost to follow-up) was 19.94% and peaked at 33.33% in 2011. The average age of the patients lost to follow-up was 35.6 years. Patients who transferred to another care center accounted for 14.16% of all patients, deaths for 4.05%, and 61.56% continued care. Only 1 patient stopped treatment.

Conclusion: The rate of discontinuation of ARV therapy was high in our study. Knowledge of the sociological aspects of those lost to follow-up is necessary to develop strategies for their retention in active treatment.