A Comparison Of Effectiveness Of Efavirenz And Nevirapine - Based First-line Hiv Treatment In Patients Attending Coast Provincial General Hospital, Mombasa County, Kenya

In the Coastal region of Kenya, Mombasa County has the highest HIV prevalence (11.1%) of the estimates based on Kenya AIDS Progress Report of 2014. Limited data exist on effective regimen strategies to manage HIV/AIDS among adults in Kenya. Safe alternative HAART regimens are not currently a viable option for many, especially infected patients in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Efavirenz and Nevirapine based First-line HIV treatment in patients attending comprehensive care centre in Mombasa.This was a prospective comparative study. The target population was HIV positive adult patients eligible for HAART. A total of 251 patients were enrolled in the study and followed up for 12 months. All ARV naive patients with CD4 count < 350/ul with WHO stage 3 or 4 and eligible for HAART were randomly selected and enrolled into either of the two treatment groups. HIV infected adult patients were randomised into Efavirenz and Nevirapine based regimens (D4T/3TC/EFV and D4T/3TC/NVP) and followed up for a period of twelve months. Laboratory tests were done by collecting 10mls of blood from each patient every three months and tested for Haemoglobin, Liver enzyme test (ALT), Creatinine and CD4 cell count. Clinical examination included physical examination, measurement of body weight and vital signs (Temperature, Blood Pressure and Pulse). Data analysis was done using SPSS Version 17.0 package to perform one way ANOVA comparing more than two means, followed by Post hoc (Student Newman Keul). Independent t-test was used to calculate difference between the two treatment groups. In both statistics, 95% confidence level was used, where P