Knowledge and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among adult people living with HIV/AIDS treated in the health care centers of the association "Espoir Vie Togo" in Togo, West Africa

We conducted a cross-sectional survey among adult people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) through a structured questionnaire.A total of 99 patients were enrolled. Among them, 55.6% knew the name of antiretroviral agents of regimens prescribed. All patients had a good knowledge of treatment schedule. The treatment regimens based on 2 NRTIs + 1 NNRTI were used in 90% of patients. The average adherence rate was 89.8% of the total doses prescribed while 62.62% of patients showed an adherence rate of 95% or above. The treated groups were similar in term of median % of medication doses taken according to PLWHA epidemiological characteristics. However, patients reported forgetting (34.9%), travel (25.6%), cost of treatment (13.9%) and side effects (11.6%) as the main factors of missing at least once a dose intake.These results should encourage the association and all the involved actors in the HIV/AIDS's program to strengthen counseling, education and information interventions for HIV-infected patients in order to overcome the potential barriers of poor adherence.Since 1996, progress in the field of antiretroviral therapy has led to the reduction of about 80% of deaths, the number of cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the incidence of opportunistic infections [1]. About twenty drugs belonging to 4 classes defined according to their pharmacological modes of action constitute the current arsenal of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). The combinations of these drugs have dramatically changed the prognosis of an infection which natural consequence is death for over 90% of the patients into chronic infection [2,3]. The long-term nature of the disease has further complicated its management. In this context, sustained adherence is an essential tool of the long-term efficiency of ARVs therapy [4] (e.g. significant reduction in viral load, drug resistance, deterioration of health status and treatment failure) [5-8]. In addition, the role of the knowledge of treatment regim