Magnitude and factors associated with lost to follow-up among women under option B+ PMTCT program at East Wollega public health facilities, western Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: An initiation of lifelong antiretroviral therapy to pregnant and lactating women living with Human immune virus (HIV) without eligibility criteria is Option B+ Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT). However, loss to follow-up from the PMTCT creates a great obstacle for the success of this program. Objective: To assess the magnitude and factors associated with lost to follow up among women under option B+ PMTCT program at East Wollega public health facilities, western Ethiopia. Methods: Hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 330 women enrolled in the Option B+ PMTCT from June 12, 2013 – December 1, 2018. The analysis was performed using STATA version 14 and logistic regression model was fitted to identify the factors associated with loss to follow-up. Results: The magnitude of lost to follow up from Option B+ PMTCT program was 15.4% (95% CI; 11.9–19.7). Lack of formal education (AOR = 3.70, 95% CI; 1.46, 9.36), rural residence (AOR = 2.75, 95% CI; 1.33, 5.68), fail to disclose HIV status (AOR = 3.75, 95% CI; 1.73, 7.41), previous history of HIV (AOR = 3.33, 95% CI; 1.68, 7.47) and poor/fair antiretroviral treatment adherence (AOR = 3.01, 95% CI; 1.10, 8.70) were found to be significantly associated with loss to follow-up. Conclusion: The magnitude of loss to follow-up was comparable with the previous studies and the highest number of loss to follow-up happened during postpartum. Thus, we recommend the health institutions and other stakeholders to promote institutional delivery and providing health education on the importance of disclosing HIV status.

Keywords

• Ethiopia
• Lost to follow up
• Mother-to-child transmission
• Option B+