Antiretroviral therapy clinic attendance among children aged 0-14 years in Kahama district, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Background: Efforts made to scale up care and treatment for HIV in Tanzania have started to pay off. The number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) has massively increased owing to an increase in investment made. However, this is not reflected in all populations, especially children living with HIV. This study, therefore, aims to determine the magnitude and factors associated with ART uptake among children living with HIV in Kahama district, Tanzania.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among pairs of children aged 0-14 years and their caregivers. A total of 423 randomly selected caregivers of HIV-positive children were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The outcome variable was ART uptake while independent variables constituted of socio-demographic, health facility, and systemic factors.
Results: A total of 132 (31%) of all caregivers reported to have missed at least one clinic visit for their children during a period of three months before the survey. Of them, one in four missed at least two clinics. Caregivers cited factors such as lack of transport fare and distance to the health facility as barriers to attend the planned clinics. After adjusting for the important confounders and other covariates, factors associated with ART uptake were being divorced/widowed (AOR= 0.57, 95% CI; 0.33-0.97) and having primary education or more (AOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0, 82).
Conclusion: One in every three HIV-positive children miss their scheduled routine ART clinics in Kahama, Shinyanga. Tailored interventions should target caregivers of such children who are divorced or widowed and those with low or no education while addressing distance and transportation challenges in this and other areas with similar contexts.