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Background Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the cornerstone of management of patients with HIV, and a strict adherence to the same is of utmost importance in success of therapy. Treatment in most cases, once started has to be taken life-long, and hence compliance can be an issue. With newer once-a-day regimens, there could be a positive impact on both the adherence to the treatment and the quality of life (QOL); assessing these various factors was the purpose of this study. Methods This observational longitudinal study was conducted at a teaching hospital offering tertiary care in Coastal Karnataka, and the study population consisted of 198 patients with HIV of both genders, on ART. All patients aged over 18 years, who were HIV positive and on ART from at least one month were included. Data was collected by directly interviewing the patient through the questionnaire at the ART clinic. Results A total of 198 patients were interviewed, and assessed for adherence to ART using the Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ), a validated questionnaire. The quality of life was assessed using the WHOQOL questionnaire, again a validated and elaborate questionnaire. Of the total patients, 103 were males. According to MAQ scale, a medium to high level of adherence was observed in 97.5% of the patients (score 0 is high adherence, score of 1 or 2 is medium adherence). Regarding the QOL, 43% of them responded to having good energy levels and being able to perform their daily activities without difficulty, over 80% of them said they were able to work normally, and able to carry out their duties, along with being satisfied with their capacity to work. Conclusion The adherence to antiretroviral therapy was observed to be >95% in majority of the patients when assessed using the Medication Adherence Questionnaire, which is very good. The quality of life was deemed to be satisfactory when assessed using the WHOQOL questionnaire.
R et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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