Association between Paediatric ART Clinic Attendance and Treatment Failure in HIV Infected Children Attending a Nigerian Hospital

: Regular anti-retrovirals clinic attendance is necessary for re-fills of consumed HAART as this will affect adherence. The association between the regularity of clinic appointment attendance, adherence and treatment failure (TF) in Nigerian children is unknown. Other factors influencing associated with TF also need to be studied. Objective: To determine the association between clinic attendance and treatment failure and other factors associated with treatment failure. Method: Consecutive consenting HIV infected children and their care attending the Paediatric ART clinic of a Nigerian hospital were studied. Information on the socio-demographics of the caregiver and the HIV infected children were obtained. Additional details sought and recorded in a proforma include clinic attendance over a two year period and the latest CD4 and viral load count over this period. Data obtained was inputted into a personal computer and analysed using SPSS version 16. Results: The ages of the 30 children studied, ranged from 3 months to 11years, with a mean of 5.6 ± 2.4. Of these children, 15(50.0%) were boys and 15(50.0%) girls giving a male to female ratio of 1: 1. Eight (26.7%) of the 30 children had an attendance rate > 95% in the two years period of study and the remaining 22(73.3%) attended less than 95% of the exp