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  • Title: Outcomes of a nurse-managed service for stable HIV-positive patients in a large South African public sector antiretroviral therapy programme.
    Author: Grimsrud A, Kaplan R, Bekker LG, Myer L.
    Journal: Trop Med Int Health; 2014 Sep; 19(9):1029-39. PubMed ID: 25041716.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVES: Models of care utilizing task shifting and decentralization are needed to support growing ART programmes. We compared patient outcomes between a doctor-managed clinic and a nurse-managed down-referral site in Cape Town, South Africa. METHODS: Analysis included all adults who initiated ART between 2002 and 2011 within a large public sector ART service. Stable patients were eligible for down-referral. Outcomes [mortality, loss to follow-up (LTFU), virologic failure] were compared under different models of care using proportional hazards models with time-dependent covariates. RESULTS: Five thousand seven hundred and forty-six patients initiated ART and over 5 years 41% (n = 2341) were down-referred; the median time on ART before down-referral was 1.6 years (interquartile range, 0.9-2.6). The nurse-managed down-referral site reported lower crude rates of mortality, LTFU and virologic failure compared with the doctor-managed clinic. After adjustment, there was no difference in the risk of mortality or virologic failure by model of care. However, patients who were down-referred were more likely to be LTFU than those retained at the doctor-managed site (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.09-1.69). Increased levels of LTFU in the nurse-managed vs. doctor-managed service were observed in subgroups of male patients, those with advanced disease at initiation and those who started ART in the early years of the programme. CONCLUSION: Reorganization of ART maintenance by down-referral to nurse-managed services is associated with programme outcomes similar to those achieved using doctor-driven primary care services. Further research is necessary to identify optimal models of care to support long-term retention of patients on ART in resource-limited settings.
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