Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Loss to Follow-Up in a Cohort of HIV-infected Patients Treated with Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment

of results 1,302 HAART-treated patients came at least twice to the consultation in the period 2000–2006 and were included in this study. The total number of consultations throughout the study period was 29,500. A total of 289 patients (22.2%) were out of care for at least one year during this period. Of these, 47 died (3.6%) and 31 went to another hospital (2.4%); the remainder (n = 211; 16.2%) were LTFU. The average LTFU rate was 2.3/100 patients/year and remained stable across the years. The LTFU patients were more often heterosexual and intravenous drug users (IVDU). Moreover, they were more often uncovered by health insurance and were living outside the province of Antwerp. They had more often detectable viral loads on their last visit, were longer in care, and had fewer followup visits on average per year. The first HAART regimen was shorter among LTFU patients. Ethnic origin, gender, baseline CD4 count, hepatitis C status, total length of treatment, and language spoken were not significantly associated with LTFU.