Application of Longitudinal Measured CD4+ Count on HIV-Positive Patients Following Active Antiretroviral Therapy: A Case of Debre Berhan Referral Hospital

The measurement of the CD4+ count is the predictor of evolution to AIDS, in ART. Studying the way of the CD4+ count over time provides an insight to the disease evolution. The main objective of this study was to apply statistical analysis on longitudinally measured CD4+ Cell counts of HIV-positive patients under ART. The study population consists of 647 HIV+ patients who were 16 years old or older and who were under ART follow up from 2012 to 2017 in Debre Berhan Referral Hospital, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia. The data were from the patients' chart. All patients who have initiated to ART and measured their CD4+ cell counts at least two times, including the baseline and those who started the first line ART regimen class was included in the study population. Data were explored using basic descriptive statistics and individual and mean profile plots. The methods of LMM and GLMM were used. The mean profile of CD4+ count revealed that there is an improvement in the duration of treatment in a linear pattern. From the GLMM covariates duration of treatment, sex, BMI, baseline CD4, regimen class, duration by age, duration by baseline CD4 and duration by regimen class significantly determines the change in CD4+ count overtime at 5% level of significance. There is the duration of treatment effect on the current CD4+ count. The study result suggests that HIV+ patients attending in ART improve their CD4+ count