Baseline characteristics of HIV-infected children and adolescents in the Orotta National Paediatric Referral Hospital (ONPRH) cART treatment centre, Asmara, Eritrea (2005–2020)
| Patients’ characteristics | Total N (%) | 2005–2010 | 2011–2015 | 2016–2020 | P value (χ2) |
| Number enrolled | 710 | 480 (67.6) | 180 (25.4) | 50 (7.0) | |
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 374 (52.7) | 237 (63.4) | 111 (29.7) | 26 (7) | 0.01 (7.9) |
| Female | 336 (47.3) | 243 (72.3) | 69 (20.5) | 24 (7.2) | |
| Age on enrolment in years, median (IQR) | 6 (3–9) | 5 (3–8) | 7 (4–10) | 5 (2–11) | 0.001* |
| ≤5 | 274 (38.6) | 198 (72.3) | 52 (19) | 24 (8.7) | <0.001 (27.5) |
| 6–10 | 284 (40) | 202 (71.1) | 72 (25.4) | 10 (3.5) | |
| >10 | 152 (21.4) | 80 (52.6) | 56 (36.8) | 16 (10.6) | |
| Residence | |||||
| Maekel | 516 (72.7) | 358 (69.4) | 124 (24) | 34 (6.6) | 0.25 (2.7) |
| Outside Maekel | 194 (27.3) | 122 (62.9) | 56 (28.9) | 16 (8.2) | |
| Disease stage | |||||
| Early | 191 (26.9) | 134 (70.2) | 46 (24) | 11 (5.8) | 0.5 (1) |
| Advanced | 519 (73.1) | 346 (66.7) | 134 (25.8) | 39 (7.5) | |
| TB status | |||||
| Symptomatic and under treatment | 16 (2.4) | 7 (43.8) | 6 (37.5) | 3 (18.8) | 0.5 (5.9) |
| Not symptomatic | 625 (97.6) | 443 (70.9) | 135 (21.6) | 47 (7.5) | |
| CD4 count, median (IQR) | 274 (150–442) | 265 (151–392.7) | 307 (137–555) | 340 (200–888) | 0.012* |
| CD4 percentage, median (IQR) | 12 (7.4–17) | 11.1 (7.1–16.5 | 13.6 (9–21) | 14.3 (7.5–21.9) | 0.007* |
| Haemoglobin in g/L, mean (±SD) | 118 (±135) | 125 (±172) | 106 (±21) | 110 (±16) | 0.060* |
| Anaemia | 264 (45.7) | 155 (58.7) | 89 (33.7) | 20 (7.6) | 0.3 (2.2) |
| No anaemia | 313 (54.3) | 197 (62.9) | 88 (28.2) | 28 (8.9) | |
| WAZ, median (IQR) | −2.6 (−3.6 to −1.7) | −2.5 (−3.5 to −1.7) | −2.8 (−3.8 to −1.7) | −2.9 (−3.8 to −1.6) | 0.263* |
| WAZ ≥−2 | 141 (31.9) | 98 (69.5) | 32 (22.7) | 11 (7.8) | 0.7 (0.5) |
| WAZ <−2 | 302 (68.1) | 202 (66.9) | 78 (25.8) | 22 (7.3) | |
| HAZ, median (IQR) | −2.75 (−3.8 to −1.7) | −2.6 (−3.7 to −1.5) | −2.9 (−4 to −1.8) | −3 (−3.9 to −1.8) | 0.063* |
| HAZ ≥−2 | 223 (32.7) | 161 (72.2) | 49 (22) | 13 (5.8) | 0.1 (4.3) |
| HAZ <−2 | 461 (67.3) | 296 (64.2) | 129 (28) | 36 (7.8) | |
| BAZ, median (IQR) | −1.58 (−2.8 to −0.69) | −1.5 (−2.9 to −0.5) | −1.6 (−2.7 to −1) | −1.7 (−3 to −0.6) | 0.385* |
| BAZ ≥−2 | 378 (60.4) | 257 (68) | 97 (25.7) | 24 (6.3) | |
| BAZ <−2 | 247 (29.6) | 162 (65.6) | 64 (25.9) | 21 (8.5) | 0.5 (1) |
| cART backbone | |||||
| AZT+3TC | 508 (71.7) | 347 (68.3) | 148 (29.1) | 13 (2.6) | |
| Other backbones | 201 (28.3) | 133 (66.2) | 31 (15.4) | 37 (18.4) | <0.001 (62) |
| NNRTI | |||||
| Efavierenz (EFV) | 366 (51.6) | 262 (71.6) | 90 (24.6) | 14 (3.8) | <0.001 (13) |
| Nevirapin (NVP) | 340 (48.4) | 216 (63.5) | 88 (25.8) | 36 (10.6) | |
| Current cART regimen | |||||
| First-line cART | 633 (89.2) | 429 (67.8) | 157 (24.8) | 47 (7.4) | 0.3 (1.9) |
| Second-line cART | 77 (10.8) | 51 (66.2) | 23 (29.9) | 3 (3.9) | |
| Adherence | |||||
| Suboptimal adherence | 91 (12.3) | 46 (50.5) | 39 (42.9) | 6 (6.6) | <0.001 (17) |
| No record | 619 (87.2) | 434 (70) | 141 (22.8) | 44 (7.2) | |
| cART change | |||||
| cART changed at least once | 516 (75) | 340 (65.9) | 148 (28.7) | 28 (5.4) | <0.001 (1.2) |
| No cART change | 172 (25) | 120 (69.8) | 30 (17.4) | 22 (12.8) | |
| Duration of follow-up in years, median (IQR) | 8 (4–11) | 10 (7–12) | 6 (4–8) | 2 (1–3.25) | <0.001* |
Comparisons of proportions were performed by using the χ2 test, medians by using Mann-Whitney tests.
Other backbones refer to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate+emtricitabine, abacavir+3TC or stavudine+3TC. Anaemia was defined as haemoglobin level <110 g/L for children <5 years old, <115 g/L for children 5–11.9 years old and <120 g/L for children >12 years old.
*Mann-Whitney U test.
AZT+3TC, zidovudine+lamivudine; BAZ, body mass index-for-age z-score; cART, combined antiretroviral therapy; EFV, Efavirenz; HAZ, height-for-age z-score; IQR, Inter-quartile range; NNRTI, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; NVP, Nevirapin; TB, tuberculosis; WAZ, weight-for-age z-score.