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Adherence to antiretroviral therapy among women with HIV infection
Judith A Erlen1, Susan M Sereika, Robert L Cook
1University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, PA 15261, USA. jae001@pitt.edu
Objective:
The overall objective of this secondary analysis was to examine self-reported adherence to antiretroviral therapy in a sample of women with HIV.
Design:
The primary study used survey methodology.
Setting:
The setting included a university-based HIV/AIDS clinic in southwestern Pennsylvania and a community-based HIV/AIDS clinic in eastern Pennsylvania.
Participants:
Sixty-one women infected with HIV who were taking protease inhibitors.
Main Outcome Measure:
Self-reported adherence was based on responses to two questions: whether the person had missed a dose of her medications within the past 24 hours, and how many pills the person had taken on time as scheduled (none, very few, a few, about half, most, nearly all, all of them).
Results:
Adherence ranged from 60% to 75%. Two thirds (65.6%) of the sample thought that their medications were helping them; three fifths (57.4%) thought that it was dangerous to miss a dose of their medications.
Conclusions:
Adherence in this sample was less than perfect, suggesting the need to develop, implement, and test interventions to promote better adherence to antiretroviral medication regimens among women with HIV.