Antiretroviral therapy uptake among adult tuberculosis patients newly diagnosed with HIV in Nyanza Province, Kenya.

SETTING

In 2008, the Kenya tuberculosis (TB) program reported low (31%) antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected TB patients.

OBJECTIVE

To confirm ART coverage and identify factors associated with HIV clinic enrollment and ART initiation among TB patients.

DESIGN

Retrospective chart abstraction of adult TB patients newly diagnosed with HIV and eligible for ART at 58 Nyanza Province TB clinics between October 2006 and April 2008. TB data were linked to HIV clinic data at 50 facilities that provided ART. Associations with HIV clinic enrollment and ART were evaluated.

RESULTS

Among 1137 ART-eligible TB patient records sampled, 32% documented HIV clinic enrollment and 29% ART. Date fields were largely incomplete; 11% of the patient records included HIV testing dates and ≤1% had dates for cotrimoxazole prophylaxis, HIV clinic enrollment and ART initiation. Adding HIV clinic data increased HIV clinic enrollment and ART documentation to respectively 62% and 44%. Among TB patients in HIV care, female sex, older age group and baseline CD4 documentation were associated with ART initiation.

CONCLUSION

Linking data increased documentation of HIV clinic enrollment and ART uptake. Continued efforts are required to improve the documentation of HIV service delivery, especially in TB clinics. Interventions to increase ART uptake are needed for younger patients and men.