Research Article
Modelling Count Data for HIV-Positive Patients on Antiretroviral Treatment in Kenya
Anna Nanjala Muricho,
Thomas Mageto,
Samuel Mwalili
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2023
Pages:
68-80
Received:
3 October 2023
Accepted:
20 October 2023
Published:
31 October 2023
Abstract: The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is a lentivirus that weakens a person's resistance to infection. The National AIDS Control Programme (NASCOP) guidelines advise patients to begin antiretroviral therapy (ART) when an individual`s CD4+ cell count is below 350 cells/ml or when they begin to exhibit symptoms of HIV infection, as defined by WHO stages I through IV. To achieve HIV viral suppression, antiretroviral drug adherence is essential. Measurements on a variable are gathered for each individual at several points in longitudinal research. Although variables with repeated measurements within an individual are correlated, the between individuals are typically presumed to pose independence, and this is a major characteristic of such longitudinal data. A Retrospective Longitudinal study of HIV-Positive patients enrolled on ART from 2018 to 2021 those above 9 years when they sign up for ART. In total, 1489 individuals were involved during research. Data was examined by descriptive statistics. A generalized linear mixed effect model was fitted which took into account the within and between variations due to its flexibility. The number of patients enrolled on ART increases by Age and Gender over the four years. In 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 ART coverage was 22.4%, 24.2%, 26.1%, and 27.3% respectively. The variables age, gender and year were found to be the significant predictors. The GLMM with negative binomial distribution was used to analyze the data due to overdispersion in the data and the fact that there was a random factor. The AIC was used as the model selection approach. A model considered as the baseline was built with all possible interactions and major effects, and the best fitting model was defined as the one with the lowest AIC.
Abstract: The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is a lentivirus that weakens a person's resistance to infection. The National AIDS Control Programme (NASCOP) guidelines advise patients to begin antiretroviral therapy (ART) when an individual`s CD4+ cell count is below 350 cells/ml or when they begin ...
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Research Article
Mixed Autoregressive Model for Spatial Data: A Bayesian Application to Poverty Mapping
Alexander Kwaku Boateng,
Richard Puurbalanta,
Gideon Mensah Engmann,
Ernest Zamanah,
Angela Osei-Mainoo
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2023
Pages:
81-89
Received:
2 October 2023
Accepted:
20 October 2023
Published:
31 October 2023
Abstract: Poverty can be defined as the lack of income considered necessary to purchase goods and services in order to maintain a marginal living standard. Its eradication is a global problem especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to determine the socio economic and environmental indicators as well as to produce a predictive map of poverty in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS7) data. To achieve these objectives, a Spatial Mixed Autoregressive (MAR) model was used. Global and Local Moran’s I statistics were computed to test for spatial dependence in the data. Prediction of the risk of poverty was made via a Bayesian ordinary Kriging technique. Results of the study indicated that household size, total annual household expenditure, marital status (divorce), location (rural), educational level of household heads (JHS), deplorable roads and ecological Zone (Savanna) were statistically significant. Moreover, the predictive map showed a high positive spatial dependence of poverty across Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions, with the extremely poor dominating in these areas. The varied characteristics of households that determine poverty levels should be incorporated into policy decisions to ensure that the country's rural and urban areas develop at the same pace.
Abstract: Poverty can be defined as the lack of income considered necessary to purchase goods and services in order to maintain a marginal living standard. Its eradication is a global problem especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to determine the socio economic and environmental indicators as well as to produce a predictive map ...
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