Adherence and plasma HIV RNA response to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-seropositive injection drug users in a Canadian setting

Abstract HIV-positive individuals who use injection drugs (IDU) may have lower rates of adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, previous studies of factors associated with adherence to ART among IDU have been limited primarily to samples drawn from clinical settings and in areas with financial barriers to healthcare.We evaluated patterns of ART adherence and rates of plasma HIV RNA response among a Canadian cohort of community-recruited IDU. Using data from a community-recruited cohort of antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected IDU, we investigated ART adherence patterns based on prescription refill compliance and factors associated with time to plasma HIV-1 RNA suppression (<500 copies/mL) using Cox proportional hazards regression in a setting with universal health care, including free ART. Between 1996 and 2008, 267 antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected IDU initiated ART and had a median of 51 months (inter-quartile range: 17–95 months) of follow-up. Overall, 81 (30.3%) were ≥95% adherent during the first year of HAART and 187 (70.0%) achieved HIV RNA suppression at least once over the study period, for an incidence-density of 34.5 (95% confidence interval CI: 29.8–39.9) per 100 person-years. The Kaplan-Meier cumulative plasma HIV RNA suppression rates at 12 months after the initiation of ART were 80.8% (95% CI: 71.2–88.7) for adherent and 28.9% (95% CI: 22.8–36.1) for non-adherent participants. While several socio-demographic characteristics and drug-using behaviours were identified as barriers to successful treatment in unadjusted analyses, the factor most strongly associated with time to HIV RNA suppression in multivariate analysis was adherence to ART of at least 95% (adjusted hazard ratio AHR = 6.0, 95% CI: 4.2–8.6, p<0.001). These results demonstrate low rates of adherence to ART among a community-recruited cohort of IDU and reinforce the importance of adherence as the key determinant of successful virological response to antiretroviral therapy.