Factors associated with non-adherence to scheduled medical follow-up appointments among Cameroonian children requiring HIV care: a case-control analysis of the usual-care group in the MORE CARE trial.

backgroundA better understanding of why HIV-exposed/infected children fail to attend their scheduled follow-up medical appointments for HIV-related care would allow for interventions to enhance the delivery of care. The aim of this study was to determine characteristics of the caregiver-child dyad (CCD) associated with children's non-adherence to scheduled follow-up medical appointments in HIV programs in Cameroon.

methodsWe conducted a case-control analysis of the usual-care group of CCDs from the MORE CARE trial, in which the effect of mobile phone reminders for HIV-exposed/infected children in attending follow-up appointments was assessed from January to March 2013. For this study, the absence of a child at their appointment was considered a case and the presence of a child at their appointment was defined as a control. We used three multivariate binary logistic regression analyses. The best-fit model was the one which had the smallest chi-square value with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (HLχ²). Magnitudes of associations were expressed by odds ratio (OR), with a p-value <0.05 considered as statistically significant.

resultsWe included 30 cases and 31 controls. Our best-fit model which considered the sex of the adults and children separately (HL χ²=3.5) showed that missing scheduled medical appointments was associated with: lack of formal education of the caregiver (OR 29.1, 95% CI 1.1-777.0; p=0.044), prolonged time to the next appointment/follow-up (OR [1 week increase] 1.4, 95% CI 1.03-2.0; p=0.032), and being a female child (OR 5.2, 95% CI 1.2-23.1; p=0.032). One model (HLχ²=10.5) revealed that woman-boy pairs adhered less to medical appointments compared to woman-girl pairs (OR 4.9, 95% CI 1.05-22.9; p=0.044). Another model (HLχ²=11.1) revealed that man-boy pairs were more likely to attend appointments compared to woman-girl pairs (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.93; p=0.039). There were no statistical associations for the ages of the children or the caregivers, the study sites, or the HIV status (confirmed vs. suspected) of the children.

conclusionThe profile of children who would not attend follow-up medical appointments in an HIV program was: a female, with a caregiver who has had no formal education, and with a longer follow-up appointment interval. There is a possibility that female children are favored by female caregivers and that male children are favored by male caregivers when they come to medical care.