Risk factors for delayed initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy in rural north central Nigeria.

Aliyu MH, Blevins M, Parrish DD, Megazzini KM, Gebi UI, Muhammad MY, Ahmed ML, Hassan A, Shepherd BE, Vermund SH, Wester CW. Risk factors for delayed initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy in rural north central Nigeria. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999). 2014 Feb 1;65(65). e41-9. PMID: 23727981 [PubMed] PMCID: PMC3818360 NIHMSID: NIHMS491048.

Abstract

Timely initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) in eligible HIV-infected patients is associated with substantial reduction in mortality and morbidity. Nigeria has the second largest number of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the world. We examined patient characteristics, time to ART initiation, retention, and mortality at 5 rural facilities in Kwara and Niger states of Nigeria.