TITLE:
The Value of Support Group Participation in Influencing Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment among People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
AUTHORS:
Simpson Tumwikirize, Kwasi Torpey, Oluwasanmi Adedokun, Tilitope Badru
KEYWORDS:
Support Groups, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Participation, Antiretroviral Therapy, Adherence
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.5 No.3,
September
7,
2015
ABSTRACT: Advances in antiretroviral therapy for both
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) treatment and prevention have increased
interest in adherence to HIV treatment. This is because the individual patient
and public health benefits of antiretroviral treatment(ART) greatly
depend on the extent to which people living with HIV (PLHIV) adhere to the
prescribed daily dosing regimens. Studies have shown that nonadherence to ART
increases drug resistance, morbidity and person-to-person HIV transmission.
Public health experts are trying different innovations to enhance ART
adherence, including promoting support groups of PLHIV. The purpose of this
study was to determine the value of support group participation in enhancing
ART adherence. The study used a cross-sectional design to compare ART
adherence among PLHIV who participate in support group activities and those who
do not. Respondents were adults who were initiated on ART between January 1,
2010 and December 31, 2012. Multistage probability sampling was used to select
study sites and respondents. Data was collected using a self-administered
questionnaire from 1676 respondents between February and May 2014. Data was
analyzed using STATA. Univariate analysis was carried out to generate
descriptive statistics, while Chi-square tests were used to examine if there
was an association between participation in support group activities and
antiretroviral treatment adherence. ART adherence was self-reported by 745/788
(95%) and 814/888 (92%) respondents who had ever and had never participated in
support group activities respectively. Among respondents who reported
nonadherence to ART, 74/117 (8%) had never participated in support group
activities compared to just 43/117 (5%) who participated in support group
activities. These findings suggest that PLHIV who participate in support group
activities are more likely to adhere to ART than those who do not participate.
This implies that there is value in participating in support groups by PLHIV in
terms of ART adherence.