Retention of HIV-infected and HIV-exposed children in a comprehensive HIV clinical care programme in Western Kenya.

BACKGROUND: To describe incidence rates (IR) and risk factors for loss-to-follow-up (LTFU) among HIV-infected and HIV-exposed children in a large HIV treatment programme in Western Kenya. METHODS: The USAID-AMPATH Partnership has enrolled >100,000 patients (20% children) at 23 clinic sites throughout western Kenya. LTFU is defined as being absent from the clinic for >3 months if on combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) and >6 months if not. Included in this analysis were children aged <14 years, HIV exposed or infected at enrollment, and enrolled between April 2002 and March 2009. The IR for LTFU are presented per 100 child-years (CY) of follow-up. Proportional hazards models with time-independent and time-dependent covariates were used to model factors associated with LTFU. Weight for height Z-scores were calculated using EpiInfo, with severe malnutrition being defined as a Z-score