Prevalence and associated factors of late HIV diagnosis in north-western rural Tanzania: a cross sectional study

Background: Despite scaling up of HIV and treatment services to improve the outcome of people living with HIV, still a high proportion of patients seek out medical attention at late stages of the disease. This contributes to late initiation of ART and poor clinical outcome especially in sub Saharan Africa. The literature on magnitude of this problem in Tanzania is still scarce. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of delayed HIV diagnosis in rural Tanzania. Methods: This was a cross sectional study, involving newly diagnosed adult HIV patients sent in for care and treatment linkage. Information regarding age, sex, WHO stage, type of opportunistic condition, HIV testing service and on diagnosis CD4 counts were all collected. On diagnosis CD4 counts