Simplified tools for measuring retention in care in antiretroviral treatment program in Ethiopia: cohort and current retention in care.

INTRODUCTION: Patient retention in care is a critical challenge for antiretroviral treatment programs. This is mainly because retention in care is related to adherence to treatment and patient survival. It is therefore imperative that health facilities and programs measure patient retention in care. However, the currently available tools, such as Kaplan Meier, for measuring retention in care have a lot of practical limitations. The objective of this study was to develop simplified tools for measuring retention in care. METHODS: Retrospective cohort data were collected from patient registers in nine health facilities in Ethiopia. Retention in care was the primary outcome for the study. Tools were developed to measure "current retention" in care during a specific period of time for a specific "ART-age group" and "cohort retention" in care among patients who were followed for the last "Y" number of years on ART. "Probability of retention" based on the tool for "cohort retention" in care was compared with "probability of retention" based on Kaplan Meier. RESULTS: We found that the new tools enable to measure "current retention" and "cohort retention" in care. We also found that the tools were easy to use and did not require advanced statistical skills. Both "current retention" and "cohort retention" are lower among patients in the first two "ART-age groups" and "ART-age cohorts" than in subsequent "ART-age groups" and "ART-age cohorts". The "probability of retention" based on the new tools were found to be similar to the "probability of retention" based on Kaplan Meier. CONCLUSION: The simplified tools for "current retention" and "cohort retention" will enable practitioners and program managers to measure and monitor rates of retention in care easily and appropriately. We therefore recommend that health facilities and programs start to use these tools in their efforts to improve retention in care and patient outcomes.