Factors associated with HIV/AIDS treatment dropouts in a special care unit in the City of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify factors associated with the health care of patients with HIV/AIDS who drop out. METHODS The study was developed in a specialized health care unit of a University hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, considering a stratified sample of adult patients including all dropout cases (155) and 44.0% of 790 cases under regular follow-up. Bivariate analyses were used to identify associations between health care dropout and demographic, socioeconomic and clinical variables. Logistic and Cox regression models were used to identify the independent effects of the explanatory variables on risk for dropout, in the latter by incorporating information on the outcome over time. RESULTS Patients were, on average, 35 years old, predominantly males (66.4%) and of a low socioeconomic level (45.0%). In both models, health care dropout was consistently associated with being unemployed or having an unstable job, using illicit drugs and having psychiatric background--positive association; and with age, having AIDS, and having used multiple antiretroviral regimens--negative association. In the logistic regression, dropping out was also positively associated with time between diagnosis and the first outpatient visit, while in the Cox model, the hazard for dropping out was positively associated with being single, and negatively associated with a higher educational level. CONCLUSIONS The results of this work allow for the identification of HIV/AIDS patients more likely to drop out from health care.