Evaluation of the factors influencing adherence to ART in HIV/AIDS patients at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital Bushenyi District

Abstract

Globally, there were an estimated 33 million people living with HIV by the end of 2007, and more than 25 million people since 1981 have died from AIDS. In 2007 there were 2.7 million new infections and 2 million HIV-related deaths. All these facts are attributed to the compromise of adherence to ART. Currently, there are an estimated 940,000 people (adults and children) living with HIV in Uganda but the adherence levels are hence posing a great challenge in the fight against the scourge. To assess factors influencing adherence to ART among HIV/AIDS clients at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital, a descriptive cross-sectional study design quantitative in nature was used to recruit 52 respondents for the study out of whom 52 questionnaires thus giving a response rate of 100%. 75% of the respondents strongly agreed that level of income may influence adherence to ART, 57% of the respondents agreed that drug hypersensitivity and side effects affect adherence to ART and 63.5% of the respondents agreed that clinic characteristics can impact adherence. The researcher concluded that client-related factors influencing adherence to ART include the client’s age, level of education, level of income, social support, co-morbidities, and patient’s belief about the effectiveness of ART. Therapy-related factors affecting adherence to ART include; polypharmacy, hypersensitivity, pill burden, and regimen complexity. Health system-related factors affecting adherence to ART include; clinic characteristics, selfmedication, lengthy wait before the next clinic visit, and the patient-provider relationship. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, ART, Adherence, Uganda, Hypersensitivity.