The sixth vital sign: HIV status assessment and severe illness triage in Uganda

Setting: Four in-patient health facilities in western Uganda. Objective: To determine the impact of an innovative multi-modal quality improvement program on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status assessment and the impact of HIV status on severe illness conditions and mortality. Design: This was a staggered, pre-post quasi-experimental study designed to assess a multi-modal intervention (collaborative improvement meetings, audit and feedback, clinical mentoring) for improving quality of care following formal training in the management of severe illness in low-income settings. Results: From August 2014 to May 2015, 5759 patients were hospitalized, of whom 2451 (42.6%) had their HIV status assessed; 395 (16.1%) were HIV-infected. HIV-infected patients were significantly more likely to meet criteria for shock (27.5% vs. 15.1%, risk ratio [RR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7–1.9, P < 0.001) and severe respiratory distress (6.7% vs. 4.3%, RR 1.5, 95%CI 1.2–2.0, P < 0.001), and were significantly more likely to die in hospital (12.0% vs. 2.9%, RR 4.1, 95%CI 3.2–5.4, P < 0.001). There was no evidence of improved HIV status assessment during the intervention period (36.5% vs. 44.8%, +8.3%, 95%CI −8.3 to 24.8, P = 0.33). Conclusions: Hospitalized HIV-infected patients in western Uganda are at high risk for severe illness and death. Novel quality improvement strategies are needed to enhance hospital-based HIV testing in high-burden settings.