Quality of HIV care provided by non-physician clinicians and physicians in Mozambique: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare HIV care quality provided by non-physician clinicians (NPC) and physicians. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study assessing the relationship between provider cadre and HIV care quality among non-pregnant adult patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the national HIV care programme. METHODS: Computerized medical records from patients initiating ART between July 2004 and October 2007 at two HIV public HIV clinics in central Mozambique were used to develop multivariate analyses evaluating differences in process and care continuity measures for patients whose initial provider was a NPC or physician. RESULTS: A total of 5892 patients was included in the study, including 4093 (69.5%) with NPC and 1799 (30.5%) with physicians as initial providers. Those whose initial provider was a NPC were more likely to have a CD4 cell count 90-210 days [risk ratio (RR) 1.13, 1.04