The purpose of this pilot study was to qualitatively identify major factors which may correlate with HIV-positive adolescent adherence to drug regimens. Six HIV-positive adolescents ranging in age from sixteen to twenty-four were interviewed. For each patient, data were collected by medical chart review, a brief questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The major factors found to negatively influence adherence were: a strong fear of social stigma relating to HIV disclosure; familial over-involvement in the regimen; a complex drug regimen; medication side effects; poor general knowledge about the HIV infection; and the quality of the doctor-patient relationship. Further research is needed to elucidate HIV medication adherence among adolescents in order to improve their treatment outcomes.
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Pugatch et al. (2002) studied this question.
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