Survival time and predictors of death among HIV infected under five children after initiation of anti -retroviral therapy in West Amhara Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is an infectious disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that primarily targets an individual's immune system. In Ethiopia, nearly 24% of HIV-related deaths occur in children under the age of five. However, studies regarding the survival time of HIV-positive under-five children after anti-retroviral therapy initiation are limited with poor evidence of predictors of death. OBJECTIVE: To assess survival time and predictors of death among HIV infected under-five children after initiation of anti-retroviral therapy in West Amhara Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021. METHODS: A multicenter institution-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted among 432 HIV-positive under-five children on anti-retroviral therapy selected by simple random sampling from January 2010 to December 2019. A standardized data extraction tool was employed, which was adapted from anti-retroviral therapy entry and follow-up forms. The event of interest for this study is death, whereas the absence of experience of death is censored. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 14. The Kaplan–Meier curve was used to estimate the survival probability. The Cox regression model was used to identify independent predictors of death. RESULTS: Among the 415 records included in the final analysis, 25 (6.02%) of the individuals were died. The incidence rate of death was found to be 2.87 per 1000 child-months (95%CI: 1.94–4.25). The cumulative survival probabilities of children after 6, 12, 24, and 36 months were 0.97, 0.95, 0.92, and 0.85 respectively. HIV-infected under-five children who lived in rural areas (AHR 3.32:-95% CI 1.17–9.39), with poor adherence to anti-retroviral therapy (AHR = 3.36; CI: 1.06, 10.69), without Isoniazide prophylaxis (AHR = 3.15; CI: 1.11, 8.94) and with anemia (AHR: 3.05, 95% CI: 1.16, 8.03) were at higher risk of death. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Death of HIV-infected under-five children on anti-retroviral therapy is high within the first one year after enrolment. Living in rural area, had poor adherence, lacked Isoniazide prophylaxis, and anemia were predictors of death. Therefore, clinicians shall emphasize for those specific risk factors of death and take action accordingly.