[Non-compliance in HIV-infected patients, supported by a community association]

To identify the factors linked to non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients among the readership of REMAIDES, the AIDES association's medical information journal; AIDES is the principal organisation involved in the fight against AIDS in France.

A cross-cutting survey by questionnaire targeting the readers of REMAIDES. People who answered at least two independent questions as never forgetting or suspending their treatment were considered as adherents.

Among the 1556 patients having responded to the survey, 888 (57%) are classified as adherents. The factors associated with non-adherence are as follows: young age, minimal financial resources, alcohol consumption, a lack of perceiving the treatment's effectiveness, absence of impact on anticipation of the future or emotional life, difficulties as far as in keeping up the medications or the treatment's integration into daily life, the impossibility of stopping the treatment, a duration of treatment > 2 years, hepatitis C co-infection and problematic side effects. Non-adherence is explained by the negative real-life experience of the person throughout the treatment. Interventions which aim to accompany patients under multiple therapies are preferable in order to improve adherence and increase the probability of successful treatment.