Abstract

Background: Human immunodeficiency infections have remained one of the major public health threats globally, with pronounced effects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Globally, more than 300 children and adolescents succumb to HIV/AIDS every day, with experts and civil societies predicting some loss in HIV gains because of the recent disruption of care and support from USAID. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of ART treatment failure among children living with HIV in Bushenyi District, Western Uganda. Methodology: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted in two selected hospitals in Bushenyi district, western Uganda. A total of 113 children living with HIV were recruited from hospital records through stratified random sampling from Kampala International University Teaching Hospital and Ishaka Adventists hospital in Bushenyi district, Western. Data were extracted from hospital records via an extraction tool covering at least 2 viral load records from the time of ART initiation. We used Epidata Version 4.2 to enter the data. Analysis was performed via Stata version 15. Parametric and nonparametric tests were used to assess the associations between ART failure and demographic and medical factors. Results: The period prevalence of ART failure was 48.67% (95% CI: 42-60.5). Poor ART adherence (Fischer’s exact test, p_value