Early Initiation of ARV Therapy Among TB-HIV Patients in Indonesia Prolongs Survival Rates!

BACKGROUND: The HIV epidemic remains a public health problem with rising tuberculosis (TB) numbers around the world. Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy (ART) is essential to increase the survival of patients with TB-HIV coinfection. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ARV treatment initiation within TB treatment duration for the survival of patients with TB-HIV coinfection. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with TB-HIV coinfection and who were ARV naive from Prof. Dr. Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital between January 2011 and May 2014 (N = 275). The Kaplan-Meier method, bivariate with the log rank test, and multivariate with the Cox regression were applied in this study. RESULTS: Cumulative survival probability of the patients with TB-HIV coinfection receiving ARV in a year was 81.5%. The death rate in patients with TB-HIV coinfection who received late ART initiation during TB treatment is higher by 2.4 times [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 2.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-4.5, p = 0.006] compared with the patients who were in early ART initiation and were thereafter adjusted by the location of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. CONCLUSION: The effect of ART initiation is essential in the intensive phase (2-8 weeks) of anti-TB medication to increase the survival among TB-HIV coinfection group.