Magnitude and determinants of nonadherence and nonreadiness to highly active antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV/AIDS in Northwest Ethiopia: a cross - sectional study

A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and September 2008 using structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. All consecutive adult outpatients who were receiving antiretroviral treatment for at least three months, seen at both hospitals during the study period and able to give informed consent were included in the study. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with nonadherence and nonreadiness.A total of 504 study subjects were included in this study. The prevalence rates of nonadherence and nonreadiness to HAART were 87 (17.3%) and 70 (13.9%) respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that medication adverse effects, nonreadiness to HAART, contact with psychiatric care service and having no goal had statistically significant association with nonadherence. Moreover, unwillingness to disclose HIV status was significantly associated with nonreadiness to HAART.In this study the level of nonadherence and nonreadiness to HAART seems to be encouraging. Several factors associated with nonadherance and nonreadiness to HAART were identified. Efforts to minimize nonadherence and nonreadiness to HAART should be integrated in to regular clinical follow up of patients.HIV/AIDS is the fourth most common cause of death in the world [1] and is estimated to have killed 3.1 million individuals and infected 4.9 million persons in 2005 alone. The number of people infected by HIV is steadily rising and sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region in the world [2]. Ethiopia has the fifth largest population of HIV-infected individuals living in Africa, which accounts approximately 4% of the world's HIV/AIDS cases [3].Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) has dramatically reduced mortality and morbidity due to HIV [4,5]. It is effective because it reduces HIV replication and hence allows the regeneration of CD4+ T-lymphocyte mediated immune responses [6,7]. It cannot, however, totally eradicate HIV [8,9]