Assessment of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) adherence among HIV patients in a tertiary health institution in Nigeria

Abstract

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the management of HIV lead to a substantial decline in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) mortality. However, the optimization of patients response to this therapy is highly dependence on medication adherence. the objective of this study is to identify the determinants of the adherence to HAART and HIV/AIDS patients' adherence in a selected HIV clinic. this was a descriptive cross-sectional study using an interviewed administered questionnaire. the pretested questionnaires were administered to 400 patients that met stated inclusion criteria. The instrument was divided into sections that inquired on the demographic characteristics of the patients and factors affecting adherence. Data collected were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) and presented in tables and figures. The result of the study indicated that the extent of availability of HAART at the clinic was not satisfactory as well as the patients' knowledge and awareness about the disease. The study further revealed a poor adherence to medication as 87% of the respondents indicated missing their doses at one time or the other and 37.11% showed less than 95% adherence. Factors that contributed to non-adherence include side effects, fasting and simply forgot among others. As high as 74.28% of the respondents said that adverse effects had great impact on their adherence and 94.03% indicated experiencing adverse effects as a result of HAART. The study identified poor availability of HAART and adverse effects to medication among others as strong contributing factors to non-adherence.