Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy and Associated Factors among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Hara Town and Its Surroundings, North-Eastern Ethiopia A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Adherence is the most important factor indetermining Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) treatment success andlong-term viral suppression. Nonadherence to ART led to thehuman Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) related morbidity andmortality. Moreover, it intensifies the risk of the emerging drugresistant HIV strains. This study aimed to assess the level of ARTadherence and to identify its predictive associated factors amongpeople living with HIV/AIDS in Hara Town and its surroundings,North-Eastern Ethiopia.

METHODS: An institutional facility based cross-sectional studywas conducted from April-May 2017. A total of 454 individualswere on ART follow-up in the selected ART-clinic, and only 418patients were recruited. Bivariate and multivariate logisticregression analyses were carried out to identify associated factors.Odds ratio and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were calculated todetermine the level of significance.

RESULTS: The level of ART adherence in the study setting was300 (71.8%). Participants who had not disclosed their HIV status totheir families were 88% less likely to adhere to their ARTmedication than those who had disclosed their HIV status ((Oddsratio (OR): 0.12, 95%CI:0.05-0.58; p<0.001). On the other hand,participants who had not encountered drug side effects were2.69 times more likely to adhere to their ART medication thanthose who had ever encountered drug side effects (OR: 2.69,95%CI:1.27-5.05; p<0.001).

CONCLUSION: A very low level of ART adherence was shown inthe study population. It was below the recommended goodadherence standard. Therefore, patients should get adequate andcomprehensive ART adherence counselling before initiation ARTtreatment and during the follow-up time.