Retention in care among HIV positive adults attending Gombe Hospital Antiretroviral Clinic in Butambala District, Uganda

Abstract

HIV has presented huge challenges universally and Uganda is among the countries most affected by the pandemic. Linkage to care after testing positive is not enough as one needs to be retained in care in order to fully benefit from HIV services provided. Retaining patients in care helps them to maintain high medication adherence, thereby achieving viral suppression, improving health outcomes, and reducing the risk of horizontal transmission. The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of retention in care and the factors associated with retention in care among HIV positive adults attending Gombe hospital in Butambala district. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Gombe hospital and a total of 300 adult patients who had been in care for six months and above were recruited. Data was collected during the month of June 2022. Univariate analysis of data was done using Chi Square (X2) test. Bivariate analysis was done using logistic regression where any factor with p<0.2 was considered for multivariate analysis, crude and adjusted odds ratios were determined with their corresponding 95% CI and p-values reported at 0.05 level of significance. The retention rate in this study was found to be at 79% which is lower than the targeted 90% of the UNAIDS strategy and the factors found to be associated with retention in care were age, gender, marital status, level of education, occupation, disclosure of status, attitude towards healthy workers, fee spent on transport to clinic, turnaround time, number of appointments missed and status of follow-up loss. Recommendation of the study involved; tracking of patients who miss their appointments through phone calls and home visits, strengthening of community based ART distribution models to stable to stable HIV positive individual, putting in place ways off reminding patients of their dates of clinic visits through phone calls a day before their appointments and developing peer groups amongst the HIV positive patients to help sensitize and encourage their fellow patients to attend to the clinic and adhere to treatment.