Delayed Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Initiation among Hospitalized Adults in a Resource-Limited Settings: A Challenge to the Global Target of ART for 90 of HIV-Infected Individuals

Table 1

Characteristics of HIV-infected adults hospitalized at Mulago hospital and their antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation status within two weeks of eligibility.

Variable	Initiated ART	Delayed ART initiation^∞	P-value
	N=75	N=195
	n (%)	n (%)
Gender			0.95
Female	37 (49)	97 (49.7)
Male	38 (51)	98 (50.2)
Age			0.51
≤ 40 years	63 (66)	157 (80.5)
>40years	12 (16)	38 (19.5)
District of residence Kampala			0.108
Kampala	47 (83)	101 (51.8)
Outside	28 (37)	94 (48.2)
Level of education			0.22
No formal & Primary	38 (51)	115 (58.9)
Secondary & Tertiary	37 (49)	80 (41.0)
Distance to nearest health Centre			0.44
≤3km	42 (56)	99 (50.7)
>3km	33 (44)	96 (49.2)
Newly diagnosed HIV positive	60 (80)	161 (82.5)	0.62
Known HIV positive	15 (20)	34 (17.4)
Disclosure	60 (80)	149 (76.4)	0.53
No disclosure	15 (20)	46 (23.5)
Social Support	72 (96)	182 (93.3)	0.41
No social support	3 (4)	13 (6.6)
Karnofsky score			0.15
≤40	66 (85)	157 (80.5)
>40	9 (12)	38 (19.5)
¥OP clinics attended in year			0.15
<5	30 (40)	97 (49.7)
≥5	45 (60)	98 (50.3)
WHO HIV clinical stage			0.07
stage II&III	30 (40)	97 (49.7)
stage IV	45 (60)	98 (50.1)
CD4 cell count			0.005
≤50	37 (49)	56 (28.7)
>50	38 (51)	126 (64.6)

∞ Delayed ART initiation referred to failure to initiate ART within two weeks of eligibility, as determined during the current hospitalization.
¥OP clinics, outpatient clinics.
Note: 94 died before ART initiation, 2 died after ART initiation, and 20 were lost to follow-up.
Only 2/386 patients were stage II.