Magnitude of Viral Load Suppression and Associated Factors among Clients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Public Hospitals of Hawassa City Administration, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: A majority of clients on first-line antiretroviral therapy with an initial high viral load will resuppress following an adherence intervention. Some sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were found to affect resuppression. Few reports on the outcome of the intervention and its associated factors in our country, with inconsistent results and some missed clinical factors of potential association, have compelled this study. The study aimed to assess the proportion of viral load suppression and associated factors among clients on antiretroviral therapy in public hospitals of Hawassa City Administration, Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study with retrospective document review was conducted among 342 participants on antiretroviral therapy enrolled for counseling since its start in November 2016. Data were captured using a pretested and structured checklist from all client charts with complete data, entered into EpiData 3.1.0 and exported to SPSS 27 for analysis. The proportion of viral load suppression was determined. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to identify associated factors. Statistical significance was determined at a 95% CI and P<0.05. RESULTS: The proportion of viral load suppression was found to be 40.9% (35.7%–46.5%). Nevirapine-based antiretroviral treatment regimens (AOR 0.125, 95% CI 0.034–0.464), malnutrition (AOR 0.565, 95% CI 0.329–0.971), poor adherence (AOR 0.504, 95% CI 0.287–0.886), lower CD4 count (AOR 0.149, 95% CI 0.071, 0.314), and fewer counseling sessions (AOR 0.330, 95% CI 0.149–0.729) were significantly associated with viral load suppression. CONCLUSION: The proportion of viral load suppression is lower than that recommended by the World Health Organization. Nevirapine-based regimens, poor nutritional status, poor adherence, lower CD4 count, and fewer counseling sessions risk a lower proportion of viral load suppression. This calls for the need to devise strategies to address these factors and to revisit program implementation.