ArticleJournal of the International AIDS Society2023
Clinical outcomes after extended 12-month antiretroviral therapy prescriptions in a community-based differentiated HIV service delivery programme in South Africa: a retrospective cohort study.
Article in Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline 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
- Data-informed Stepped Care (DiSC) to improve adolescent and young adult HIV care outcomes in Kenya: a cluster randomized trial.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Trial
- A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Association Between Antiretroviral Therapy Refill Type and Viral Suppression.AIDS and behavior · 2026Review
- Quality assessment of data for decentralised antiretroviral therapy referrals and laboratory results in the South African national electronic HIV management register TIER.Net.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Point-of-care HIV viral load testing in a community antiretroviral therapy delivery programme: A randomised controlled trial (PHILA).PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Estimates and predictors of HIV viral non-suppression in South African adults on antiretroviral treatment.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Article
- Primary healthcare providers' perspectives on six-month dispensing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa: cross-sectional survey of views and preferences.Global health action · 2025Article
- Effect of differentiated service delivery models for HIV treatment on healthcare providers' job satisfaction and workloads in sub-Saharan Africa: a mixed methods study from Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa.Human resources for health · 2025Article
- Association between changes in script renewal periods and HIV viral non-suppression: a cohort study of a South African private-sector HIV program.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2025Article
- Alcohol Consumption and Health Outcomes Among Men in a Rural HIV-Endemic Cohort in South Africa.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Extending follow-up visits in people with HIV (PWH) receiving bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (BIC/FTC/TAF) therapy: an expert opinion.Le infezioni in medicina · 2025Review
- Leadership, cohesion, and stress in primary care facilities and retention in chronic care in rural northeast South Africa before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study.Journal of global health · 2024Article
- Costs of home-delivered antiretroviral therapy refills for persons living with HIV: evidence from a pilot randomized controlled trial in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Effects of Multi-Month Dispensing on Clinical Outcomes: Retrospective Cohort Analysis Conducted in Kenya.AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- Evaluating Antiretroviral Therapy Service Delivery Models Through Lot Quality Assurance Sampling in Central Uganda.HIV/AIDS (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Article
- Healthcare worker perspectives on adaptations to differentiated anti-retroviral therapy delivery during COVID-19 in South Africa: A qualitative inquiry.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Costs of home-delivered antiretroviral therapy refills for persons living with HIV: Evidence from a pilot randomized controlled trial in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThere is an urgent need for more efficient models of differentiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) delivery for people living with HIV (PLHIV), with the World Health Organization calling for evidence to guide whether annual ART prescriptions and consultations (12M scripts) should be recommended in global guidelines. We assessed the association between 12M scripts (allowed temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic) versus standard 6-month prescriptions and consultations (6M scripts) and clinical outcomes.
methodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study using routine, de-identified data from 59 public clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We included PLHIV aged ≥18 years with a recent suppressed viral load (VL) who had been referred for community ART delivery with 6M or 12M scripts. We used modified Poisson regression to compare 12-month retention-in-care (≤90 days late for all visits) and viral suppression (<50 copies/ml) between prescription groups.
resultsAmong 27,148 PLHIV referred for community ART during Jun-Dec 2020, 57.4% received 12M scripts. The median age was 39 years and 69.4% were women. Age, sex, prior community ART use and time on ART were similar across groups. However, more of the 12M script group had dolutegravir-based regimens (60.0% vs. 46.3%). The median (interquartile range) number of clinic visits in the year of follow-up was 1(1-1) in the 12M group and 2(2-3) in the 6M group. Retention was 94.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 94.2%-94.9%) among those receiving 12M scripts and 91.8% (95% CI: 91.3%-92.3%) among those with 6M scripts. 17.1% and 16.9% of clients in the 12M and 6M groups were missing follow-up VL data, respectively. Among those with VLs, 92.4% (95% CI: 92.0%-92.9%) in the 12M group and 91.4% (95% CI: 90.8%-92.0%) in the 6M group were suppressed. After adjusting for age, sex, ART regimen, time on ART, prior community ART use and calendar month, retention (adjusted risk ratio [aRR]: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05) and suppression (aRR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99-1.01) were similar across groups.
conclusionsAmong PLHIV referred for community ART with a recent suppressed VL, the use of 12M scripts reduced clinic visits without impacting short-term clinical outcomes. 12M scripts should be considered for differentiated service delivery programmes.
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.