Knowledge and patterns of use of highly active antiretroviral therapies in HIV management at Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Because drug adherence is a crucial determinant in the success or failure of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART), this study examined the knowledge and use patterns of some HAART regimens in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Randomly selected HAART-experienced people living with HIV presenting at five government hospitals were involved in a non-experimental cross-sectional survey using self-administered questionnaires and structured interviews. About 52 primary healthcare givers were interviewed using structured questions and the generated data were entered into SPSS 10.0 for Windows for statistical analysis. Knowledge of the accurate use of HAART-regimens was low amongst the respondents and healthcare givers. Management of new infections with high viral load, metabolic complications and HAART-failures was poor. Surrogate marker follow-up seemed very low (20%) and respondents’ beliefs and knowledge of the disease, socio-demographics and dosage form of antiretrovirals (ARVs) strongly influenced adherence. Problems of mal-dosing/combining of regimens and drug interactions were resolved and some 985(58.49%) respondents were non-adherent. Readiness to initiate HAART was assessed independent of motivation, and the adverse drug events (ADEs) of ARVs were not documented at pharmaco-vigilance centers. The fairly low knowledge of the proper use patterns of HAART-regimens seen in both respondents and healthcare givers calls for better diagnostic and educational tools to prevent further mismanagement of the ARVs, slow viral mutation and halt HAART regimen failures plaguing the Nigerian populace.

Keywords: HIV, AIDS, antiretroviral therapy, adherence, adverse drug events, Nigeria

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(2): 228-235, 2010