Quality of Life and Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence: A Cross-Sectional Study in Colombia

Afiliação

(1)Post Graduation Program in Medicine and Health (PPgMS), Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.

(2)Research Laboratory in Infectious Diseases (LAPI), University Hospital Complex Professor Edgard Santos, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.

Resumo

The introduction of highly active combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) has  changed the management of HIV/AIDS, which is recognized as a chronic disease with relevant aspects, such as adherence and quality of life. This study aimed to compare clinical and demographic characteristics and health-related quality of life in people with adherence and non-adherence to cART. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 200 participants. The instruments used were the Adherence Follow-up Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey and the WHOQOL-HIV BREF. Poisson regression was applied to obtain estimates of adjusted prevalence ratios (PRadj). Individuals lacking therapeutic support were more likely to be non-adherent than those with proper support (PR: 1.79). The health-related quality of life of individuals with non-adherence was 4% lower (PR = 0.96) in the general health domain than individuals with adherence. Non-adherence to cART was associated with lower quality of life in the general health domain and no therapeutic support.