Factors Associated with Concomitant Usage of Herbal Remedies among People Living with HIV/ AIDS on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) in Enugu State, Nigeria

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has helped reduce the burden of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the majority of countries. However, there is no cure for the HIV/AIDS infection yet. Use of herbal remedies among HIV-infected individuals in Africa has increased in the past decade, mainly due to traditional beliefs and claims of cure and at times due to inconsistent access to antiretroviral drugs. This study was set out to investigate the concomitant usage of herbal medication and antiretroviral therapy by people living with HIV. The study is an observational cross-sectional Study. A total of 300 research participants completed a paper-based questionnaire and returned, with 181 (60.3%) females and 119 (39.7%) males participated in the study. Majority of the client's 59% (n=177) had been on ART for 1 to 4 years. Out of the 300 respondents, 74.3% (n=223) admitted to the have used of herbal medications alongside to their Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), with 55.1% (n=87) actually feeling herbal medications can used for treating or prevent HIV. Among those that actively use ART and Herbal medications, 56.4% actively consider it safe to use ART with herbal medication. Gender (b=-0.108, p=0.046), age (b=0.116, p=0.000), level of education (b=0.066, p=0.010) and economical status (b=-0.102, p=0.003) significantly predicted herbal medicine use, F=4.719, which indicates that gender, age, level of education and economical status can play a significant role in shaping herbal medicine use.