ArticleJournal of the International AIDS Society2017
Trends in maternal deaths in HIV-infected women, on a background of changing HIV management guidelines in South Africa: 1997 to 2015.
Article in Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and trends of advanced HIV disease among antiretroviral therapy-naïve and antiretroviral therapy-experienced patients in South Africa between 2010-2021: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Contraception values and preferences of people living with HIV: A systematic review.Contraception · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of maternal HIV infection on pregnancy and labor complication and perinatal health outcomes: a South African retrospective study.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2026Article
- Decreasing Adult Prevalence of Advanced HIV Disease From 2 Population-Based HIV Impact Assessments in Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 2015-2023.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Short- and Long-Term Clinical Outcomes of Preeclampsia in Women and Their Neonates in Pregnancies With and Without HIV Infection.International journal of hypertension · 2026Review
- Incompleteness and Misclassification of Maternal Deaths in Zimbabwe: Data from Two Reproductive Age Mortality Surveys, 2007-2008 and 2018-2019.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2024Article
- Prevalence of undiagnosed HIV among children in South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire and Zimbabwe: a model-based analysis to inform paediatric HIV screening programmes.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2022Article
- Trends and causes of maternal death at the Lagos University teaching hospital, Lagos, Nigeria (2007-2019).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
- How is becoming pregnant whilst HIV-positive? Voices of women at a selected rural clinic in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa.SAHARA J : journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance · 2020Article
- Article
- Trends in maternal deaths in HIV-infected women, on a background of changing HIV management guidelines in South Africa: 1997 to 2015.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAs work begins towards the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030, much needs to be done in ending preventable maternal deaths. After 1990, South Africa experienced a reversal of gains in decreasing maternal mortality, with an increase in HIV-related maternal deaths. In this study, we assessed trends in maternal mortality in HIV-infected women, on a background of an evolving HIV care programme.
methodsThis was a cross-sectional, retrospective record review of maternal deaths in the obstetrics unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, in Johannesburg, South Africa, a referral hospital in a high HIV prevalence setting where the prevalence among pregnant women has plateaued around 29.0% for the past decade. Trends in HIV diagnosis and management in pregnancy, and causes of maternal deaths in HIV-infected women were analysed over different time periods (1997 to 2003, 2004 to 2009, 2010 to 2012, and 2013 to 2015) reflecting major guideline changes.
resultsFrom January 1997 to December 2015, there were 692 maternal deaths in the obstetrics unit. Of the 490 (70.8%) maternal deaths with a documented HIV status, 335 (68.4%) were HIV-infected. A Chi-squared test for trends showed that the institutional MMR (iMMR) in women known to be HIV-infected peaked in the period 2004 to 2009 at 380 (95% CI 319 to 446) per 100,000 live births, with a decline to 267 (95% CI 198 to 353) in 2013 to 2015, p = 0.049. This decrease coincided with changes in the South African HIV management guidelines, mainly increased availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Non-pregnancy related infections were the leading cause of death throughout the review period, accounting for 61.5% (206/335) of deaths. Only 23.3% (78/335) of the women who died were on ART at the time of death, this in the context of advanced immune suppression and an overall median CD4 count of 136 cells/μl (interquartile ranges (IQR) 45 to 301).
conclusionIn this 19-year review of maternal deaths in Johannesburg, South Africa, there was evidence of a decrease in the iMMR among HIV-infected women, but it remains unacceptably high. Efforts to address drivers of mortality and barriers to accessing ART need to be accelerated if we are to see substantial decreases in maternal mortality.
Indexed as
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.