ArticleBMJ open2013
Loss to follow-up occurs at all stages in the diagnostic and follow-up period among HIV-infected patients in Guinea-Bissau: a 7-year retrospective cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.
- Predictors of lost to follow up from antiretroviral therapy among adults in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2021Pooled it
- HIV patients retention and attrition in care and their determinants in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Pooled it
- Rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Retention in care prior to antiretroviral treatment eligibility in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the literature.BMJ open · 2015Pooled 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
- Trial
- Prevalence, trend and risk factors for antiretroviral therapy discontinuation among HIV-infected adults in Ethiopia in 2003-2015.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Trial
- A train-and-assist device that upskills novices to strengthen the workforce and expand diagnostic access.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- HIV-1 late diagnosis in Cabo Verde: associated factors and implications for preventive strategies.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- Determinants of loss to follow-up among people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy in a universal test and treat setting: A retrospective cohort study in Nepal.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- The loss to follow-up of participants excluded from the NAMSAL trial: a retrospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Incidence and predictors of loss to follow-up among adult HIV patients attending antiretroviral therapy at public health facilities in Agaro town, Southwest Ethiopia, 2023.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Retention on antiretroviral therapy and drivers of lost-to-follow up in the Central African Republic: a longitudinal analysis.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024Article
- Factors associated with completion of intensive adherence counseling among people living with HIV at a large referral hospital in Uganda: a retrospective analysis.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Patterns of availability and accuracy of risk factor data for cardiovascular diseases among people initiated on antiretroviral therapy at selected health facilities in Khomas region, Namibia: a retrospective, cross-sectional, quantitative study.The Pan African medical journal · 2024Article
- Predictors of the observed high prevalence of loss to follow-up in ART-experienced adult PLHIV: a retrospective longitudinal cohort study in the Tanga Region, Tanzania.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Retention in care among people living with HIV in the national antiretroviral therapy programme in Guinea: A retrospective cohort analysis.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Incidence and Predictors of Loss to Follow-Up Among Adults on Antiretroviral Therapy in South Gondar Governmental Hospitals, Ethiopia: Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2023Article
- Development and validation of a risk prediction model for lost to follow-up among adults on active antiretroviral therapy in Ethiopia: a retrospective follow-up study.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo describe loss to follow-up (LTFU) at all stages of the HIV programme.
designA retrospective cohort study.
settingThe HIV clinic at Hospital National Simão Mendes in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
participantsA total of 4080 HIV-infected patients. OUTCOME MEASURES: Baseline characteristics, percentages and incidence rates of LTFU as well as LTFU risk factors at four different stages: immediately after HIV diagnosis (stage 1), after the first CD4 cell count and before a follow-up consultation (stage 2), after a follow-up consultation for patients not eligible for antiretroviral treatment (ART; stage 3) and LTFU among patients on ART (stage 4).
resultsAlmost one-third of the patients were lost to the programme before the first consultation where ART initiation is decided; during the 7-year observation period, more than half of the patients had been lost to follow-up (overall incidence rate=51.1 patients lost per 100 person-years). Age below 30 years at inclusion was a risk factor for LTFU at all stages of the HIV programme. The biggest risk factors were body mass index <18.5 kg/m(2) (stage 1), male gender (stage 2), HIV-2 infection (stage 3) and CD4 cell count <200 cells/μL (stage 4).
conclusionsIn this study, LTFU constituted a major problem, and this may apply to other similar ART facilities. More than half of the patients were lost to follow-up shortly after enrolment, possibly implying a high mortality. Thus, retention should be given a high priority.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.