An Application of the Growth Model to HIV/AIDS Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy with Coinfections in a District Hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Lethal opportunistic diseases like Tuberculosis and Hepatitis C are deeply ingrained complications for patients diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).  The effect of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) on Hepatitis C and Tuberculosis in HIV patients in Ghana continues to be unpredictable, especially in younger patients. This study aimed to describe the patient survival time distribution on antiretroviral treatment using Statistical Growth model. A retrospective cohort of 634 patients aged between 22 to 73 years were selected from the District Health Information Management System 2 (DHIMS 2), a secondary source, using a random sampling approach. These patients were diagnosed with HIV and started antiretroviral therapy between 2000 and 2019 at St. Martins Catholic Hospital in Amansie South District of the Ashanti Region. The probability of survival for almost all of the risk factors decreases gradually at different clinical states, i.e., from state 1 through to state 4. Hepatitis C or Tuberculosis can also be diagnosed chronically in approximately one in ten patients. Age, sex and the CD4 cell count of patients substantially (p- value =0.001 in log-rank tests) contributed to the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus. Survival of infants, aged <1year, after treatment was of negative effect. The statistical growth analytical approach offers a good estimate of survival rate ( 79.82%) among major risk factors for infants, aged <1yearon ART with proportion of survival growth of 0.95, hence the survival time of infants, aged <1yearon HAART is negatively affected irrespective of the treatment initiation period.