Forecast analysis of any opportunistic infection among HIV positive individuals on antiretroviral therapy in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Predicting future prevalence of any opportunistic infection (OI) among persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in resource poor settings is important for proper planning, advocacy and resource allocation. We conducted a study to forecast 5-years prevalence of any OI among HIV-infected individuals on HAART in Uganda. METHODS: Monthly observational data collected over a 10-years period (2004–2013) by the AIDS support organization (TASO) in Uganda were used to forecast 5-years annual prevalence of any OI covering the period 2014–2018. The OIs considered include 14 AIDS-defining OIs, two non-AIDS defining OIs (malaria & geohelminths) and HIV-associated Kaposi’s sarcoma. Box-Jenkins autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) forecasting methodology was used. RESULTS: Between 2004 and 2013, a total of 36,133 HIV patients were enrolled on HAART of which two thirds (66 %) were female. Mean annual prevalence for any OI in 2004 was 57.6 % and in 2013 was 27.5 % (X(2)(trend) = 122, b = −0.0283, p <0.0001). ARIMA (1, 1, 1) model was the most parsimonious and best fit for the data. The forecasted mean annual prevalence of any OI was 26.1 % (95 % CI 21.1–31.0 %) in 2014 and 15.3 % (95 % CI 10.4–20.3 %) in 2018. CONCLUSIONS: While the prevalence of any OI among HIV positive individuals on HAART in Uganda is expected to decrease overall, it’s unlikely that OIs will be completely eliminated in the foreseeable future. There is therefore need for continued efforts in prevention and control of opportunistic infections in all HIV/AIDS care programmes in these settings. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3455-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.