Baseline characteristics
| Total | Ayder University Hospital | Mekelle General Hospital | Michew General Hospital | Alamata General Hospital | Mehoni Primary Hospital | Mekelle Health Centre | Alamata Health Centre | |
| Sex, n (%) | ||||||||
| Female | 760 (63.4) | 111 (58.1) | 72 (63.2) | 35 (46.7) | 62 (62.6) | 191 (64.3) | 169 (70.7) | 120 (65.6) |
| Male | 438 (36.6) | 80 (41.9) | 42 (36.8) | 40 (53.3) | 37 (37.4) | 106 (35.7) | 70 (29.3) | 63 (34.4) |
| Age (years) at start of ART, n (range), median | 1198 (16–82), 32 | 191 (18–82), 33 | 114 (17–69), 36 | 75 (17–68), 37 | 99 (18–61), 33 | 297 (17–66), 30 | 239 (16–71), 32 | 183 (16–64), 32 |
| 14–25, n (%) | 191 (15.9) | 29 (15.2) | 15 (13.2) | 4 (5.3) | 7 (7.1) | 71 (23.9) | 34 (14.2) | 31 (16.9) |
| 26–50, n (%) | 928 (77.5) | 152 (79.6) | 92 (80.7) | 63 (84.0) | 84 (84.8) | 213 (71.7) | 181 (75.7) | 143 (78.1) |
| >50, n (%) | 79 (6.6) | 10 (5.2) | 7 (6.1) | 8 (10.7) | 8 (8.1) | 13 (4.4) | 24 (10.0) | 9 (4.9) |
| Religion, n (%) | ||||||||
| Orthodox Christian | 1068 (89.1) | 183 (95.8) | 111 (97.4) | 69 (92.0) | 75 (75.8) | 243 (81.8) | 231 (96.7) | 156 (85.2) |
| Muslim | 126 (10.5) | 8 (4.2) | 3 (2.6) | 6 (8.0) | 23 (23.2) | 53 (17.8) | 6 (2.5) | 27 (14.8) |
| Protestant | 4 (0.3) | – | – | – | 1 (1.0) | 1 (0.3) | 2 (0.8) | – |
| Educational status, n (%) | ||||||||
| No education | 533 (44.5) | 36 (18.8) | 30 (26.3) | 25 (33.3) | 60 (60.6) | 219 (73.7) | 46 (19.2) | 117 (63.9) |
| Primary | 360 (30.1) | 84 (44.0) | 33 (28.9) | 27 (36.0) | 23 (23.2) | 57 (19.2) | 84 (35.1) | 52 (28.4) |
| Secondary | 200 (16.7) | 50 (26.2) | 39 (34.2) | 14 (18.7) | 12 (12.1) | 15 (5.1) | 58 (24.3) | 12 (6.6) |
| Tertiary | 105 (8.8) | 21 (11.0) | 12 (10.5) | 9 (12.0) | 4 (4.0) | 6 (2.0) | 51 (21.3) | 2 (1.1) |
| BMI (kg/m2), n (%) | ||||||||
| ≤18.5 | 476 (39.7) | 66 (34.6) | 54 (47.4) | 38 (50.7) | 54 (54.5) | 105 (35.4) | 94 (39.3) | 65 (35.5) |
| 18.6–25 | 652 (54.4) | 107 (56.0) | 49 (43.0) | 29 (38.7) | 41 (41.4) | 184 (62.0) | 132 (55.2) | 110 (60.1) |
| >25 | 70 (5.8) | 18 (9.4) | 11 (9.6) | 8 (10.7) | 4 (4.0) | 8 (2.7) | 13 (5.4) | 8 (4.4) |
| Clinical stage, n (%) | ||||||||
| WHO I–II | 581 (48.5) | 52 (27.2) | 42 (36.8) | 47 (62.7) | 65 (65.7) | 155 (52.2) | 134 (56.1) | 86 (47.0) |
| WHO III–IV | 617 (51.5) | 139 (72.8) | 72 (63.2) | 28 (37.3) | 34 (34.3) | 142 (47.8) | 105 (43.9) | 97 (53.0) |
| CD4+ count (cells/µL), n (range), median | 1173 (2–1777), 221 | 188 (2–1048), 215 | 114 (3–1202), 214 | 75 (3–519), 189 | 99 (4–722), 248 | 291 (6–1439), 224 | 239 (6–841), 207 | 167 (18–1777), 228 |
| <200, n (%) | 515 (43.0) | 86 (45.0) | 53 (46.5) | 40 (53.3) | 39 (39.4) | 119 (40.1) | 111 (46.4) | 67 (36.6) |
| ≥200, n (%) | 658 (54.9) | 102 (53.4) | 61 (53.5) | 35 (46.7) | 60 (60.6) | 172 (57.9) | 128 (53.6) | 100 (54.6) |
| Missing data | 25 (2.1) | 3 (1.6) | – | – | – | 6 (2.0) | – | 16 (8.7) |
| Haemoglobin (g/dL), n (%) | ||||||||
| ≤10 | 112 (9.3) | 18 (9.4) | 8 (7.0) | 6 (8.0) | 7 (7.1) | 24 (8.1) | 35 (14.6) | 14 (7.7) |
| >10 | 1075 (89.7) | 170 (89.0) | 106 (93.0) | 69 (92.0) | 91 (91.9) | 273 (91.9) | 203 (84.9) | 163 (89.1) |
| Missing data | 11 (0.9) | 3 (1.6) | – | – | 1 (1.0) | – | 1 (0.4) | 6 (3.3) |
| Active TB, n (%) | ||||||||
| Yes | 104 (8.7) | 10 (5.2) | 10 (8.8) | 17 (22.7) | 7 (7.1) | 23 (7.7) | 26 (10.9) | 11 (6.0) |
| No | 1094 (91.3) | 181 (94.8) | 104 (91.2) | 58 (77.3) | 92 (92.9) | 274 (92.3) | 213 (89.1) | 172 (94.0) |
| Initial treatment regimen, n (%) | ||||||||
| Efavirenz-based | 1073 (89.6) | 185 (96.9) | 113 (99.1) | 75 (100.0) | 99 (100.0) | 236 (79.5) | 188 (78.7) | 177 (96.7) |
| Nevirapine-based | 125 (10.4) | 6 (3.1) | 1 (0.9) | – | – | 61 (20.5) | 51 (21.3) | 6 (3.3) |