Definitions of antiretroviral treatment failure for measuring quality outcomes

Abstract

Objectives:Our aim was to compare three different definitions of treatment failure and discuss their use as quality outcome measures for a clinical service. Methods:Data for treatment-naïve patients who attended the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2008 were analysed. Definition 1 was the strict Food and Drug Administration (FDA) definition of treatment failure as determined using the time to loss of virological response (TLOVR) algorithm. Definition 2 defined treatment failure as occurring in those whose viral load never fell to <400 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL or who developed two consecutive viral loads ≥400 copies/mL on any treatment (switching or stop..