WHO ART guidelines and beyond: Should CD4 count be a barrier to ART initiation

Should the CD4 threshold for starting ART be raised?

Providing immediate CD4 count results at HIV testing improves ART initiation.

BACKGROUND In South Africa, CD4 count results are typically available within a week of testing. However, 35%-55% of newly diagnosed HIV-positive patients do not return for their CD4 results and therefore, do not access further care. We evaluated the impact of a CD4 count result and patient written information provided immediately after diagnosis on retention in care. METHODS HIV-infected subj...

Who Should be Interviewed? A Response from Cluster Analysis

Objective: This article presents an application of cluster analysis for social sciences researches especially those studies that have an interview as part of their data collection. This application is more suitable for sequential mixed method researchers who use quantitative data to frame subsequent qualitative subsamples for conducting interviews.  Methods: In more detail, the algorithm (i....

the aesthetic dimension of howard barkers art: a frankfurtian approach to scenes from an execution and no end of blame

رابطه ی میانِ هنر و شرایطِ اجتماعیِ زایش آن همواره در طولِ تاریخ دغدغه ی ذهنی و دل مشغولیِ اساسیِ منتقدان و نیز هنرمندان بوده است. از آنجا که هنر در قفس آهنیِ زندگیِ اجتماعی محبوس است، گسترش وابستگیِ آن با نهاد ها و اصولِ اجتماعی پیرامون، صرفِ نظر از هم سو بودن و یا غیرِ هم سو بودنِ آن نهاد ها، امری اجتناب ناپذیر به نظر می رسد. با این وجود پدیدار گشتنِ چنین مباحثِ حائز اهمییتی در میان منتقدین، با ظهورِ مکتب ما...

What happens to ART-eligible patients who do not start ART? Dropout between screening and ART initiation: a cohort study in Karonga, Malawi

BACKGROUND Routine ART programme statistics generally only provide information about individuals who start treatment. We aimed to investigate the outcome of those who are eligible but do not start ART in the Malawi programme, factors associated with this dropout, and reasons for not starting treatment, in a prospective cohort study. METHODS Individuals having a first screening visit at the AR...