Low level of tuberculosis preventive therapy incompletion among people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in eastern Uganda: A retrospective data review

Introduction: In most developing countries, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of mortality among people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV). Uganda implements TB preventive therapy (TPT) using Isoniazid but data are limited about TPT incompletion. We, therefore, assessed the magnitude of TPT incompletion and the associated factors among PLHIV in a large rural referral health facility in rural eastern Uganda. Methods and materials: We conducted a retrospective data review for PLHIV initiated on TPT between October 2018 and September 2019. The outcome variable was TPT incompletion defined as the failure to finish 6 consecutive months of Isoniazid or failure to finish 9 months of Isoniazid without stopping for more than 2 months at a time. We descriptively summarized numerical data using frequencies and percentages and compared differences in the outcome with independent variables using the Chi-square or fisher's exact, and the Student's t-tests. We used a generalized linear model to assess factors independently associated with TPT incompletion, reported using adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: We enrolled 959 participants with a mean age of 41.1 +/- 13.8 years, 561 (58.5%) were females, 663 (69.1%) married, 538 (56.1) travelled 5-10 km from their place of residence to the ART clinic, 293 (30.6%) had disclosed HIV status, 362 (37.7%) had been on ART for 5-9 years, and 923 (96.2%) were on first-line ART regimen. We found 26 (2.7%) participants had incomplete TPT. Non-adherence to ART clinic visits (aOR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.09-7.73), history of switch in ART regimen (aOR, 9.33; 95% CI, 1.19-52.39), patient representation (aOR, 4.70; 95% CI, 1.35-13.99), and one unit increase in ongoing counselling session (aOR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.46-0.91) were associated with TPT incompletion. Conclusion: We found low rates of TPT incompletion among PLHIV in rural eastern Uganda. Non-adherence to ART clinic visits, patient representation, and history of switch in ART regimen is associated with a higher likelihood of TPT incompletion while ongoing counselling is associated with a reduction in TPT incompletion. The health system should address non-adherence to ART clinic visits and patient representation, through ongoing psychosocial support.