Last modified: 2024-05-02
Abstract
Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients is key to maintaining viral suppression and preventing sexual transmission of HIV. However, some patients who obtained viral suppression are unable to maintain an undetectable viral load and experience viral rebound and hence, needs to be investigated. Several studies employed the standard survival analysis methods, focusing solely on the time it takes for the first event to occur. However, this approach overlooks the fact that individuals may go through multiple events, resulting in valuable information being overlooked or discarded. The main objective of this study is, therefore, to investigate factors associated with recurrent events of viral rebound among HIV patients in Namibia by fitting various extensions of survival models such as Andersen-Gill, Prentice-Williams-Peterson total time (PWP-TT) and Prentice-Williams-Peterson gap time (PWP-GT). The results showed the PWP-TT model outperformed the other recurrent models and furthermore, among the factors included in the model, factors such as age, number of years in ART and the baseline CD4 count was found to be a significant factor associated with viral rebound of HIV patients.