Isoniazid preventive therapy uptake and completion among HIV infected children in two referral hospitals, northwest Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Isoniazid prevention therapy alone can reduce the risk of tuberculosis in people with HIV regardless of CD4 count or antiretroviral treatment. In Ethiopia, there is scarcity of evidence on implementation of isoniazid prevention therapy and factors associated with its uptake.Objective: The study aimed to assess isoniazid preventive therapy implementation and factors associated with isoniazid completion among human immunodeficiency virus infected children in Felege-Hiwot and Gondar University Referral Hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia.Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study using a combination of face-to-face interviews of caregivers/parents and retrieval of client records was conducted in May 2014. Trained nurses with experience in human immunodeficiency virus infection and tuberculosis care conducted the document review and interviews. Data were entered onto Epi Info version 3.5.4 for windows, cleaned and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 for windows for analysis. Results: A total of 454 HIV infected children (51.8% females and 48.2% males) were studied. Nearly a third, 168 (37%),of children were provided isoniazid prevention therapy and 67.9% completed the full course. Isoniazid completion was associated with distance from hospital (p<0.005), explanation of the reasons to take isoniazid pills (p<0.001), thinking isoniazid may be dangerous to child's health (p<0.001), believing that the chance of getting sick from tuberculosis is high for the child (p<0.001), disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus infection status (p<0.04) and isoniazid preventive therapy disclosure status (p<0.001).Conclusions: Uptake of isoniazid preventive therapy was low among human immunodeficiency virus infected children. In addition, isoniazid therapy completion was very low. The hospitals and Regional Health Bureau should avail isoniazid preventive therapy in the nearby health facilities and strengthen adequate counseling on the role of isoniazid preventive therapy for tuberculosis