Outcomes and associated risk factors of patients traced after being lost to follow-up from antiretroviral treatment in Lilongwe, Malawi

Table 4 Risk factors for mortality in adults lost to follow-up that were successfully traced. Odds ratios are derived from logistic regression; P-values using likelihood ratio tests. (N = 486)

Parameter	% Died (95% CI^#)	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	P
Gender			0.45
Female	40.2 (34.1-46.4)	0.85 (0.56-1.29)
Male	42.7 (36.2-49.4)	1
Age group			0.64
15-29	42.3 (31.2-54.0)	1
30-39	41.0 (34.2-47.9)	0.99 (0.56-1.77)
40-49	38.0 (30.2-46.3)	1.07 (0.57-1.98)
≥ 50	52.1 (37.2-66.7)	1.57 (0.70-3.50)
Reason start ART			0.091
Low CD4 count	28.8 (17.1-43.1)	1
WHO stage 3	39.3 (34.6-45.5)	1.28 (0.63-2.58)
WHO stage 4	56.2 (45.3-66.7)	1.99 (0.88- 4.52)
Other/unknown	28.4 (10.3-55.9)	0.55 (0.15-2.03)
Time of last visit *			< 0.0001
No follow-up	64.6 (53.0-75.0)	1
Months 1 to 6	50.0 (43.4-56.6)	0.55 (0.31-0.96)
Months 7 to 12	16.7 (8.29-28.5)	0.073 (0.030-0.18)
Months 13 or later	19.8 (12.9-28.5)	0.058 (0.024-0.14)
Telephone contact			0.005
None	39.0 (32.7-45.5)	1
Available	43.6 (37.4-50.0)	1.79 (1.19-2.71)
Treatment period ^‡			0.022
Paying	30.5 (23.7-37.9)	2.28 (1.10-4.72)
Free ART	47.4 (41.8-53.1)	1

# binomial exact 95% confidence interval
*Follow up time from start of ART until last patient visit
^‡Adjusted odds ratio for treatment period is reversed from the crude odds ratio (crude OR = 0.49), due to confounding by time of last visit (for detail, see Additional file 1).

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