Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1436905
This article is part of the Research Topic Challenges in reaching the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets in Sub-Saharan Africa: Status, innovations, and pathways forward View all articles

Investigating the Follow-up Discontinuation among People Living with HIV in North Shoa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Provisionally accepted
Abebe F. Amhare Abebe F. Amhare 1*Girma G. Goyomsa Girma G. Goyomsa 1Yasmin M. Aal-Issa Yasmin M. Aal-Issa 2
  • 1 Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Salale University, Fitche, Ethiopia, Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Salale University, Fithe, Ethiopia
  • 2 Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Follow-up discontinuation among people living with HIV can increase mortality and HIV spread within communities. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 on follow-up discontinuation among people living with HIV in Ethiopia.Methods: This longitudinal study used retrospective document review to compare follow-up status of people living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic with their status from 2017 to 2019. Data from selected health facilities were collected using a checklist, entered and cleaned in Excel, and analyzed in Stata. Descriptive statistics were presented in tables and line graphs. Incidence risk (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated.Result: Between 2017 and 2021, a total of 7,447 people living with HIV were registered to begin ART at selected health facilities. Annual retention rates were consistent from 2017 to 2019, ranging from 0.941 to 0.949. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they dropped to 0.837 in 2020 and 0.840 in 2021. Retention rates were significantly correlated with loss to followup (r: -0.959, P ≤ 0.001), death (r: -0.968, P≤0.001), and transfer-out (r: -0.979, P ≤ 0.001).

    Keywords: COVID-19, HIV, People living with HIV, Follow-up discontinuation, Ethiopia

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 10 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Amhare, Goyomsa and Aal-Issa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Abebe F. Amhare, Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Salale University, Fitche, Ethiopia, Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Salale University, Fithe, Ethiopia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.