ArticleJournal of clinical epidemiology2013
Impact of definitions of loss to follow-up (LTFU) in antiretroviral therapy program evaluation: variation in the definition can have an appreciable impact on estimated proportions of LTFU.
Article in Journal of clinical epidemiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of retention and disengagement after initiation on antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries after the introduction of Universal Test and Treat policies.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Pooled it
- Attrition of HIV-positive children from HIV services in low and middle-income countries.AIDS (London, England) · 2019Pooled it
- Attrition of HIV-exposed infants from early infant diagnosis services in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2018Pooled it
- Retention of Adult Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis 2008-2013.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2015Pooled it
- Cost-Effectiveness of Differentiated Service Delivery for HIV Treatment: A Combined Mathematical Modeling Study of Four African Settings.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Estimates and predictors of HIV viral non-suppression in South African adults on antiretroviral treatment.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Article
- Functional status as a predictor of loss to follow-up among people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy in Tangerang District, Indonesia.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Retention in a low-resource, high-burden South African cohort on antiretroviral therapy: Retrospective, longitudinal analysis comparing six measures of retention.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Article
- How much does it cost to retain clients on antiretroviral treatment for one year in a large, public clinic? Routine financial costs of retention interventions at Lighthouse Trust in Lilongwe, Malawi.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Time-dependent predictors of loss to follow-up in HIV care in low-resource settings: A competing risks approach.PloS one · 2025Article
- Disengagement from Care Among People Co-Infected with HIV and HCV: A Scoping Review.AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- ART history prior to conception: trends and association with postpartum disengagement from HIV care in Khayelitsha, South Africa (2013-2019): a retrospective cohort study.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024Article
- Lost to follow-up of patients who received intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy to treat four different retina disorders in an individual center in Brazil.SAGE open medicine · 2023Article
- Clinical Follow-Up in People Living with HIV During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico.AIDS and behavior · 2022Article
- Food insecurity predicts loss to follow-up among people living with HIV in Senegal, West Africa.AIDS care · 2022Article
- Attrition from HIV care among youth initiating ART in youth-only clinics compared with general primary healthcare clinics in Khayelitsha, South Africa: a matched propensity score analysis.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2022Article
- Differentiated service delivery for people using second-line antiretroviral therapy: clinical outcomes from a retrospective cohort study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2021Article
- The impact of food insecurity on HIV outcomes in Senegal, West Africa: a prospective longitudinal study.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Loss to follow-up in the hepatitis C care cascade: A substantial problem but opportunity for micro-elimination.Journal of viral hepatitis · 2020Review
- Estimating retention in HIV care accounting for clinic transfers using electronic medical records: evidence from a large antiretroviral treatment programme in the Western Cape, South Africa.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the impact of different definitions of loss to follow-up (LTFU) on estimates of program outcomes in cohort studies of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). STUDY DESIGN AND
settingWe examined the impact of different definitions of LTFU using data from the International Epidemiological Databases to Evaluate AIDS-Southern Africa. The reference approach, Definition A, was compared with five alternative scenarios that differed in eligibility for analysis and the date assigned to the LTFU outcome. Kaplan-Meier estimates of LTFU were calculated up to 2 years after starting ART.
resultsEstimated cumulative LTFU were 14% and 22% at 12 and 24 months, respectively, using the reference approach. Differences in the proportion LTFU were reported in the alternative scenarios with 12-month estimates of LTFU varying by up to 39% compared with Definition A. Differences were largest when the date assigned to the LTFU outcome was 6 months after the date of last contact and when the site-specific definition of LTFU was used.
conclusionVariation in the definitions of LTFU within cohort analyses can have an appreciable impact on estimated proportions of LTFU over 2 years of follow-up. Use of a standardized definition of LTFU is needed to accurately measure program effectiveness and comparability between programs.
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