Open AccessMortality Among Adults Transferred and Lost to Follow-up From Antiretroviral Therapy Programmes in South Africa
Author(s) -
Morna Cornell,
Richard Lessells,
Matthew P. Fox,
Daniela Garone,
Janet Giddy,
Lukas Fenner,
Landon Myer,
Andrew Boulle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-7884
pISSN - 1525-4135
DOI - 10.1097/qai.0000000000000269
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , confidence interval , proportional hazards model , cohort , incidence (geometry) , population , survival analysis , mortality rate , demography , antiretroviral therapy , cohort study , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , immunology , viral load , environmental health , physics , sociology , optics
Little is known about outcomes after transfer out (TFO) and loss to follow-up (LTF) and how differential outcomes might bias mortality estimates, as analyses generally censor or exclude TFOs/LTF. Using data linked to the National Population Register, we explored mortality among TFO and LTF patients compared with patients who were retained and investigated how linkage impacted on mortality estimates.