High adherence to antiretroviral treatment despite frequent adverse effects among people living with HIV in Dodoma, Tanzania

Abstract

Master thesis, Programme in Medicine, TITLE: High adherence to antiretroviral treatment despite frequent adverse effects among people living with HIV in Dodoma, Tanzania. Background: To reach satisfying results from the antiretroviral treatment of HIV the adherence needs to be > 95 %. There are also problems with toxicity and side effects of the antiretrovirals that affects a lot of people worldwide. Following this, it is of great importance to investigate how well the antiretroviral therapy (ART) is working. Objectives: To examine how the ART among HIV positive patients is functioning and also to investigate potential differences between men and women. Methods: The cross-sectional study was done at a Care and Treatment Clinic in Dodoma, Tanzania. The 200 patients (79 men and 121 women) answered a self-administered questionnaire and information was collected from the medical records. Results: The self-reported adherence level was 88% among the participants, 75% of the patients suffered from any adverse effect. The non-adherent patients had a tendency towards more adverse effects. The knowledge about HIV transmission was low regarding mother to child transmission (MTCT) and blood transfusion/needles as routes of transmission. Some differences between sexes were found; men had lower CD4 levels, lower level of knowledge about HIV and a tendency towards experiencing larger economic impact due to HIV. Conclusions: The ART was functioning well in most aspects with a relatively high level of adherence, despite frequent adverse effects. Additional studies with a larger patient material are needed to further investigate differences between men and women for the outcome of therapy. Keywords: HIV, antiretroviral therapy, adherence, adverse effect, knowledge