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Table 2 Characteristics of clients who received CommLink and peer-delivered standard linkage services, by urban and rural area of HIV diagnosis, Manzini region, Eswatini, March 2016 – April 2020

From: Antiretroviral therapy initiation and retention among clients who received peer-delivered linkage case management and standard linkage services, Eswatini, 2016–2020: retrospective comparative cohort study

 

Urban

Rural

Combined

 

Characteristics

CommLink

n (%)

SLS

n (%)

CommLink

n (%)

SLS

n (%)

CommLink

n (%)

SLS

n (%)

p-valuea

Total

248 (100)

251 (100)

525 (100)

518 (100)

773 (100)

769 (100)

 

Sex

 < 0.0001

 Men

154 (62.1)

107 (42.6)

285 (54.3)

212 (40.9)

439 (56.8)

319 (41.5)

 

 Women

94 (37.9)

144 (57.4)

240 (45.7)

306 (59.1)

334 (43.2)

450 (58.5)

 

Age group (years)

 < 0.0001

 15–24

34 (13.7)

62 (24.7)

80 (15.2)

121 (23.4)

114 (14.7)

183 (23.8)

 

 25–34

104 (41.9)

118 (47.0)

233 (44.4)

245 (47.3)

337 (43.6)

363 (47.2)

 

  ≥ 35

110 (44.4)

71 (28.3)

212 (40.4)

152 (29.3)

322 (41.7)

223 (29.0)

 

Marital statusb

0.0048

 Single

130 (60.2)

193 (77.2)

318 (65.2)

375 (72.4)

448 (63.6)

568 (74.0)

 

 Married/cohabitating

86 (39.8)

57 (22.8)

170 (34.8)

143 (27.6)

256 (36.4)

200 (26.0)

 

Referral facilityc

      

0.0406

 Hospital

15 (6.0)

38 (15.1)

35 (6.7)

36 (6.9)

50 (6.5)

74 (9.6)

 

 Clinic, HC, or PHU

233 (94.0)

213 (84.9)

490 (93.3)

482 (93.1)

723 (93.5)

695 (90.4)

 

Advanced HIV diseased

      

0.6569

 No

175 (72.9)

123 (75.0)

400 (78.7)

234 (79.1)

575 (76.9)

357 (77.6)

 

 Yes

65 (27.1)

41 (25.0)

108 (21.3)

62 (20.9)

173 (23.1)

103 (22.4)

 

ART-eligibility periode

 CD4 ≤ 500/µL

241 (97.2)

0

2 (0.4)

0

243 (31.4)

0

 

 Test and treat

7 (2.8)

251 (100)

523 (99.6)

518 (100)

530 (68.6)

769 (100)

 
  1. SLS peer-delivered standard linkage services, HC health center, PHU public health unit, ART antiretroviral therapy, Tinkhundla geopolitical regional subdivisions of Eswatini
  2. aRao-Scott Chi-square, adjusting for clustering within urban and rural Tinkhundla
  3. b32 urban and 37 rural CommLink clients, and 1 SLS urban client, had missing information on marital status
  4. c57 facilities including 2 hospitals, 50 clinics, 4 health centers, and 1 public health unit
  5. dCD4 count < 200/μL or diagnosed with WHO Stage III or IV disease at enrollment in HIV care; of 1263 clients enrolled in care, 1208 (96%) had either a CD4 count or WHO stage recorded at their enrollment or ART-initiation visit
  6. eNational guidelines recommending ART based on CD4 count were expanded during CommLink, resulting in the following two ART-eligibility periods: 1 March 2016 to 30 September 2016 (patients with CD4 count ≤ 500/μL) and 1 October 2016 to 31 March 2018 (all patients with any CD4 count, test and treat)