Mortality in a Cohort of People Living with HIV in Rural Tanzania, Accounting for Unseen Mortality Among Those Lost to Follow-up.

Mortality in a Cohort of People Living with HIV in Rural Tanzania, Accounting for Unseen Mortality Among Those Lost to Follow-up. Am J Epidemiol. 2020 Sep 05;: Authors: Vanobberghen F, Weisser M, Kasuga B, Katende A, Battegay M, Tanner M, Glass TR, Kiularco Study Group OBOT Abstract Mortality assessment in cohorts with high lost to follow-up (LTFU) is challenging in settings with limited civil registration systems. We aimed to assess mortality in a clinical cohort (KIULARCO) of HIV-infected persons in rural Tanzania, accounting for unseen deaths among participants LTFU. We included adults enrolled in 2005-2015 and traced a non-random sample of those LTFU. We estimated mortality using Kaplan-Meier methods with: A) routinely-captured data; B) crudely incorporating tracing data; C) weighting using tracing data to crudely correct for unobserved deaths among participants LTFU; and D) weighting using tracing data accounting for participant characteristics. We investigated associated factors using proportional hazards models. Among 7460 adults, 646 (9%) died, 883 (12%) transferred clinics, and 2911 (39%) were LTFU. Of 2010 (69%) traced participants, 325 (16%) were found: 131 (40%) died and 130 (40%) transferred. Five-year mortality estimates were A) 13.1%; B) 16.2%; C) 36.8%; D) 35.1%. Higher mortality was associated with male sex, referral as hospital in-patient, living close to the clinic, lower body mass index, more advanced WHO stage, l...
Source: Am J Epidemiol - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: Am J Epidemiol Source Type: research