Characteristics of the study participants stratified by survival outcome in the Orotta National Paediatric Referral Hospital (ONPRH) cART treatment centre, Asmara, Eritrea (2005–2020)
| Cohort characteristics | Total n (%) | Attrition n (%) | Retention n (%) | P value (χ2) |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 374 (52.7) | 104 (27.8) | 270 (72.2) | 0.01 (5.5) |
| Female | 336 (47.3) | 68 (20.2) | 268 (79.8) | |
| Age on enrolment in years, median (IQR) | 6 (3–9) | 6 (3–10) | 6 (3–9) | 0.38* |
| ≤5 | 274 (38.6) | 62 (22.6) | 212 (77.4) | 0.09 (4.7) |
| 6–10 | 284 (40) | 63 (22.2) | 221 (77.8) | |
| >10 | 152 (21.4) | 47 (30.9) | 105 (69.1) | |
| Enrolment year, median (IQR) | 0.24* | |||
| 2005–2010 | 265 (37.3) | 111 (23.1) | 369 (76.9) | 0.23 (2.9) |
| 2011–2015 | 289 (40.7) | 44 (24.4) | 136 (75.6) | |
| 2016–2020 | 156 (22) | 17 (34) | 33 (66) | |
| Residence | ||||
| Maekel | 516 (72.7) | 115 (22.3) | 401 (77.7) | 0.049 (3.8) |
| Outside Maekel | 194 (27.3) | 57 (29.4) | 137 (70.6) | |
| Disease stage | ||||
| Early | 191 (26.9) | 23 (12) | 168 (88) | <0.001 (21) |
| Advanced | 519 (73.1) | 149 (28.7) | 370 (71.3) | |
| TB status | ||||
| Symptomatic and under treatment | 16 (2.4) | 5 (31.2) | 11 (68.8) | 0.5 (0.4) |
| Not symptomatic | 625 (97.6) | 151 (24.2) | 474 (75.8) | |
| CD4 count, median (IQR) | 274 (150–442) | 216 (100–371) | 287 (163–452) | <0.001 * |
| CD4 percentage, median (IQR) | 12 (7.4–17) | 9.9 (6–14.5) | 12.5 (8.2–19) | <0.001* |
| Haemoglobin in g/L, mean (±SD) | 118 (±135) | 107 (±19) | 122(±152) | <0.001† |
| Anaemia | 264 (45.7) | 72 (27.5) | 192 (72.5) | 0.004 (8.4) |
| No anaemia | 313 (54.3) | 54 (17.3) | 259 (82.7) | |
| WAZ, median (IQR) | −2.6 (−3.6 to −1.7) | −3 (−4.3 to −2) | −2.5 (−3.5 to −1.6) | 0.001* |
| WAZ ≥−2 | 141 (31.9) | 27 (19.1) | 114 (80.9) | 0.05 (3.5) |
| WAZ <−2 | 302 (68.1) | 83 (27.5) | 219 (72.5) | |
| HAZ, median (IQR) | −2.75 (−3.8 to −1.7) | −3.2 (−4 to −1.9) | −2.5 (3.7 to −1.5) | 0.001* |
| HAZ ≥−2 | 223 (32.7) | 42 (18.8) | 181 (81.2) | 0.028 (4.8) |
| HAZ <−2 | 461 (67.3) | 122 (26.5) | 339 (73.5) | |
| BAZ, median (IQR) | −1.58 (−2.8 to −0.69) | −1.9 (−3.6 to −0.7) | −1.5 (−2.6 to −0.6) | 0.012* |
| BAZ ≥−2 | 378 (60.4) | 76 (20.1) | 302 (79.9) | 0.007 (7.3) |
| BAZ <−2 | 247 (29.6) | 73 (29.6) | 174 (70.4) | |
| cART backbone | ||||
| AZT+3TC | 508 (71.7) | 101 (19.9) | 407 (80.1) | <0.001 (18.6) |
| Other backbones | 201 (28.3) | 71 (35.3) | 130 (64.7) | |
| NNRTI | ||||
| Efavirenz (EFV) | 366 (51.6) | 91 (24.9) | 275 (75.1) | 0.67 (0.1) |
| Nevirapin (NVP) | 340 (48.4) | 80 (23.5) | 260 (76.5) | |
| Current cART regimen | ||||
| First-line cART | 633 (89.2) | 156 (24.6) | 477 (75.4) | 0.45 (0.5) |
| Second-line cART | 77 (10.8) | 16 (20.8) | 61 (79.2) | |
| Adherence | ||||
| Suboptimal adherence | 91 (12.3) | 24 (26.4) | 67 (73.6) | 0.6 (0.2) |
| No record | 619 (87.2) | 148 (23.9) | 471 (76.1) | |
| cART change | 516 (75) | 92 (17.8) | 424 (82.2) | <0.001 (50.5) |
| No cART change | 172 (25) | 77 (44.8) | 95 (55.2) | |
| Duration of follow-up in years, median (IQR) | 8 (4–11) | 4.5 (1–9) | 9 (6–11) | <0.001* |
Comparisons of proportions were performed by using the χ2 test, medians by using Mann-Whitney tests and means using independent sample t-test.
Other backbones refer to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate+emtricitabine, abacavir+3TC or stavudine+3TC. Anaemia was defined as haemoglobin level <11 g/dL for children <5 years old, <11.5 g/dL for children 5–11.9 years old and <12 g/dL for children >12 years old.
*Mann-Whitney U test.
†Independent sample t-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; NNRTI, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; NVP, Nevirapin; TB, tuberculosis; WAZ, weight-for-age z-score.