Barriers to HAART Adherence Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Adolescents

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the barriers to highly active antiretrovial therapy (HAART) adherence among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adolescents and to explore the association of barriers and nonadherence. DESIGN: Structured interviews were conducted to determine the barriers associated with adherence; principal component factor analysis was performed on scores of the 19 barrier variables. SETTING: Human immunodeficiency virus-infected adolescents were recruited from 13 US cities into the REACH (Reaching for Excellence in Adolescent Care and Health) Project, the first large-scale disease progression study of HIV-positive adolescents infected through sexual behavior or injection drug use. PATIENTS: Human immunodeficiency virus-infected adolescents in the REACH cohort who were prescribed HAART (N = 114) were included in the analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were self-report of adherence and barriers to adherence and viral load (HIV-1 RNA level in plasma). RESULTS: Viral load was significantly associated with self-report of adherence to HAART (P =.02). Only 28.3% of adolescents reported taking all of their prescribed antiretroviral medications in the previous month. Factor analysis of the barriers to adherence indicates there are 2 factors accounting for the largest proportion of the variance: (1) medication-related adverse effects (both physical and psychological) and (2) complications in day-to-day routines. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence was tied closely with daily routine, which supports the assumption that working closely with adolescents to improve their organizational skills may be necessary to improve adherence. Patient-level intervention, provider-level intervention, and health care system modification may all be necessary to improve HIV-infected adolescents' adherence to HAART.