An evaluation of impact of social support and care-giving on medication adherence of people living with HIV/AIDS: A nonrandomized community intervention study

Adherence to Hypertensive Treatment among Vietnamese Patients in New Orleans

OBJECTIVES

Our principal objectives were to identify the level of adherence and identify the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that influence adherence to antihypertensive treatment among Vietnamese patients in New Orleans, Louisiana.

METHODS

By partnering with a community health center serving the Vietnamese community in New Orleans, we conducted reviews of 250 medical records of hypertensive patients receiving care there, 3 provider interviews, and 8 patient interviews. Descriptive and thematic analyses were used.

RESULTS

The level of treatment nonadherence in our sample population was 20.40%. Findings highlighted several key factors that may contribute to adherence, including easy access to providers, who are culturally competent and have used several strategies to help increase adherence, and the social support network of patients within a close-knit community. Other sociodemographic factors, such as age, sex, and tobacco and alcohol use also may play a role in adherence.

CONCLUSIONS

Adherence to antihypertensive treatment among Vietnamese patients in New Orleans was relatively high compared with other ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Further assessment of the characteristics of patients, providers, and the community may improve adherence to other chronic conditions in this population and patients of other ethnicities and races.

Factors Associated with Medication Adherence for People Living with Acute HIV Infection in a Tertiary Chinese Hospital in Beijing

Both the management and caregiving intervention of people living with HIV (PLWH), especially during acute HIV-1 infection, represent a public health issue and a form of social support. This current study analyzed the demographic and clinical factors associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence of PLWH from positive HIV diagnosis to ART initiation in a tertiary Chinese hospital in Beijing. A total of 200 participants diagnosed with acute HIV-1 infection were enrolled in this study. We collected demographic and clinical data by the use of a self-reported questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine associations between potential variables and outcomes. We found that medication adherence was impacted by years of ART and number of reminders (all P < 0.05). In addition, medication adherence was associated with viral load at 48 weeks (P = 0.035). Future studies are needed to investigate effective interventions that could facilitate ART adherence.

Pharmacist-led counselling intervention to improve antiretroviral drug adherence in Pakistan: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Pakistan is facing a growing population of people living with human immunodeficiency (HIV). In this randomized controlled trial, we investigate if a pharmacist-led intervention can increase adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV (PLWH).

Methods

Adults with HIV, who have been taking ART for more than 3 months were randomly assigned to receive either a pharmacist-led intervention or their usual care. Measures of adherence were collected at 1) baseline 2) just prior to delivery of intervention and 3) 8 weeks later. The primary outcomes were CD4 cell count and self-reported adherence measured with the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) questionnaire.

Results

Post-intervention, the intervention group showed a statistically significant increase in CD4 cell counts as compared to the usual care group (p = 0.0054). In addition, adherence improved in the intervention group, with participants being 5.96 times more likely to report having not missed their medication for longer periods of time (p = 0.0086) while participants in the intervention group were 7.74 times more likely to report missing their ART less frequently (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

The findings support the improvement in ART adherence and HIV management.

Trial registration

The trial is registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12618001882213). Registered 20 November 2018.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-020-05571-w.