Improved antiretroviral treatment outcome in a rural African setting is associated with cART initiation at higher CD4 cell counts and better general health condition

Table 1 General characteristics of the adult study population (n = 1463) according to the outcome at 12 months after starting combination antiretroviral therapy

Characteristics at 12 months		All patients N = 1463		Death or lost to follow-up N = 318		Alive and on cART N = 1145		p-value dead vs. alive
		n	%	n	%	n	%
Median age, IQR		40	34-47	40	33-48	40	34-47	0.913
Males		518	35.4	130	40.9	388	33.9	0.021
Marital status	Single	213	14.6	24	7.6	189	16.5	<0.001
	Married	390	26.7	48	15.1	342	29.9
	Divorced or Widowed	277	18.9	37	11.6	240	21.0
	No information	583	39.8	209	65.7	374	32.7
Median weight, IQR		50	43-56	45	39-52	51	44-57	<0.001
Median hemoglobin, IQR		9.5	8-11	8.8	7.4-10.7	9.8	8.2-11.1	<0.001
WHO stage	I	162	11.1	11	3.5	151	13.2	<0.001
	II	155	10.6	7	2.2	148	12.9
	III	279	19.0	31	9.8	248	21.7
	IV	197	13.5	40	12.6	157	13.7
	No information	670	45.8	229	72.0	441	38.5
Median CD4 cell count, IQR		131	54-234	80	27-156	130	60-205	<0.001
Tuberculosis	Proven	111	7.6	19	6.0	92	8.0	<0.001
	Suspected	538	36.8	62	19.5	476	41.6
cART	Nevirapine-based	890	60.8	130	40.9	760	66.4	<0.001
	Efavirenz-based	162	11.1	23	7.2	139	12.1
	No information	411	28.1	165	51.9	246	21.5
Distance to clinic	<10 km	710	48.5	143	45.0	567	49.5	0.561
	10-50 km	271	18.5	66	20.7	205	17.9
	50-100 km	276	18.9	59	18.5	217	19.0
	>100 km	134	9.2	33	10.4	101	8.8
	No information	72	4.9	17	5.4	55	4.8

ISSN: 1471-2334