Relationship between Demographic Factors, Stage of Disease, and Adherence among HIV/AIDS Patients Receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

Sukanya Chongthawonsatid, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand

This retrospective cohort study included 3,442 HIV/AIDS patients of 18 years and over on their first visits to three hospitals in 2007. Data were collected from patients’ history. This study examined the relationship between demographic factors, stage of disease and adherence among patients receiving HAART. The Center for Adherence Support Evaluation (CASE) adherence index was used for measurement of self-reported antiretroviral therapy adherence. Data was analyzed by Multiple Logistic Regression. Results showed that 91.3% of samples were good adherences. Multivariate analysis found that hospital, age at infection, marital status, education, stage of disease, and CD4 variables were statistically significant. Patients who were single, of young age, highly educated, had AIDS, and had CD4 level < 100 cell/mm3 were relatively poor adherences when compared with other groups. These outcomes suggested that we should not only emphasize demographic factors for adherence among patients receiving HAART, but also AIDS patients and the CD4 level.