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IntroductionAdequate information and health literacy (HL) has a high impact on patients understanding on the causes and consequences of many chronic diseases, including HIV, and is a crucial prerequisite to ensure adherence to therapy regimens. Several Austrian patient organizations developed an online survey together with MSD (the so-called “PAB-test”) aimed to evaluate how people living with HIV perceive the level of care in Austria.Materials and MethodsAn online survey has been developed to assess HL in people living with HIV and to evaluate the impact of HL on therapy adherence. HL was assessed with seven items regarding the self-rated comprehension of HIV related information, which showed a high reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.876). A low health literacy was defined by reaching a score below the median of 20 points in the related indicator.ResultsA total of 303 subjects completed the questionnaire. Women slightly had more often a low HL than men (57.1% vs 44.7%, p=0.335). Heterosexual subjects had more often a low HL compared to homosexual ones (58.3% vs 38.1%, p=0.007). Health literacy slightly increased with age (not significant). An increasing education level correlated with higher HL, (66.7%, 46.2%, and 38.9% of persons showed low HL with primary, secondary and tertiary education, respectively, p=0.037). The number of missed appointments with the HIV physician was significantly higher in the low HL population (30.0% vs 14.4%, p=0.002), which also showed to be more prone to interrupt the therapy without consulting a physician (22.4% vs 9.8%, p=0.006). The low HL population, however, did not report of having forgotten the medication intake more often than the one with high HL (33.1% vs 39.1%, p=0.305). The most important source of information is the treating physician, followed by NGOs/patient organizations and the internet (Figure 1). ConclusionsThere are significant differences in HL between different sub-groups in the HIV community. Low HL is significantly associated with a higher frequency of missed doctor appointments and interruptions of treatment, but does not impact adherence to therapy (self-reported). The identified information providers (medical doctors, NGOs/patient organizations) should be encouraged to contribute towards increased HL in HIV patients.

IntroductionThe improvement of antiretroviral therapy in the past decades has had a major impact on life expectancy and quality of life of people living with HIV, and also on the relationship between patients and their physicians. What used to be an acute treatment for life threatening complications, and an end-of-life therapy in the beginning of the epidemic, turned over the time into a lifelong care. The good relationship between patients and physicians represents the cornerstone of an optimal long-term therapy. Shared decision making between patients and physicians is a crucial prerequisite for the success of this approach. Several Austrian patient organizations developed an online survey together with MSD (the so-called “PAB-test”) aimed to evaluate how people living with HIV perceive the level of care in Austria.Materials and MethodsAn online survey has been developed to evaluate how people living with HIV feel about the relationship with their physicians and to what extent they feel involved in treatment related decisions.ResultsA total of 303 subjects completed the questionnaire. 44% felt “totally” involved in their therapy, 40% “strongly involved”, 12% “fairly involved”, 3% “poorly involved” and 1% “not at all involved” in their therapy. The proportion of subjects who felt totally involved in the therapy was equally distributed between sex, sexual orientation, age groups, groups of various education level, and between patients treated predominantly in intramural or extramural medical care. The most important factor for people living with HIV to feel involved in their therapy is a low amount of long-term ART-related side-effects (Figure 1). ConclusionsThe results show that the majority of people living with HIV in Austria feel involved in therapy related decisions. This proportion is equally distributed in patients with different socio-demographic or socio-economic characteristics or level of medical care delivery. According to the survey, the most important reason for people living with HIV to be involved in their therapy is to avoid long-term side effects.