Probing the determinants of art non adherence among young HIV/AIDS patients at Tshilidzini Hospital Tshedza Arv Clinic, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Non-adherence to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is a major problem among HIV and AIDS patients since most of these patients can hardly maintain the required optimum adherence rate of at least 95%. The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of ART adherence among young female patients at Tshedza Clinic at the Tshilidzini Regional Hospital, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Qualitative research approach was used. The design of the study was exploratory. The target population comprised young patients who were on ART at Tshedza Clinic at the Tshilidzini Regional Hospital. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select 10 young young patients who were on ART. Face to face interviews were used as a method of data collection while data was analysed using the content analysis method. The relevant ethical considerations were taken into account to protect the participants. Although an overwhelming majority of patients (98%) were taking their treatment according to instructions, adherence to treatment still needs to be encouraged so that 100% adherence to ART can be achieved by even including the few who were still taking half of their treatment (i.e. 2.7%) and those who still did not take treatment on time.