Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among HIV-infected Subjects in a Resource - limited Setting in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

Since the early days of antiretroviral therapy, adherence has emerged a milestone to success. The objective of this study was to evaluate the factors militating against adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected individuals in the resource - limited setting of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. A structured interviewer- administered questionnaire from consecutively recruited 187 HIV-infected patients on combination antiretroviral therapy of two-nucleoside analogue; stavudine and lamivudine and one non-nucleoside (nevirapine) was used. Association between the independent variables and adherence were analyzed using chi square analysis. This study observed an adherence level of 49.2% and identified the following as factors associated with nonadherence: cost of antiretrovirals, educational status, medication adverse effect, occupational factors, and high pill burden of prescribed regimen (p < 0.05). There is an urgent need for universal access and sustainability of antiretroviral therapy particularly in resource - limited settings. There is need for supervised medication delivery. Efforts should be made towards simplifying the therapeutic regimen to reduce the pill burden and substitution with treatment combination and strategies that minimize negative adverse effects, coupled with the re-intensification of patient's education and counseling.