TY - JOUR
T1 - Antiretroviral therapy in Zambia
T2 - Do partners on ART enhance adherence?
AU - Jones, Deborah
AU - Cook, Ryan
AU - Spence, Andrew
AU - Weiss, Stephen M.
AU - Chitalu, Ndashi
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by a grant from NICHD/NIH, R01HD058481.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2013.
PY - 2014/11/24
Y1 - 2014/11/24
N2 - Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential to optimize HIV treatment outcomes. Among individuals onART, targeted peer support has been found to support adherence. This study of Zambian heterosexual couples living with HIVexamined whether partners would exert a positive influence on each others adherence, and compared adherence betweencouples in which either one or both members were on ART.Methods: Couples (n = 446 participants), in which either orboth member were on ART were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months.Results: Most participants (64%, n = 263) were onART; overall, uptake of ART increased to 74% at 12 months. At baseline, 76% reported near perfect adherence; at 6 and 12months, 66% and 70% were adherent, respectively. A regression analysis indicated that the decline in adherence did not differbetween those couples in which one or both partners were on ART [F (2, 624) = 0.37, p = .692]. Pairwise comparisonindicated that adherence primarily decreased between baseline and 6 months (t = 2.72, p = .007), and was stable 6 to 12months.Conclusions: This study of couples in Zambia found adherence was not enhanced by having a partner on ART, andthat adherence declined over time. Partners on ART may not necessarily provide support for adherence to each other.Partners may represent an untapped resource for optimizing adherence; results highlight the need for provider guidance andstructured adherence interventions targeting partner adherence support.
AB - Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential to optimize HIV treatment outcomes. Among individuals onART, targeted peer support has been found to support adherence. This study of Zambian heterosexual couples living with HIVexamined whether partners would exert a positive influence on each others adherence, and compared adherence betweencouples in which either one or both members were on ART.Methods: Couples (n = 446 participants), in which either orboth member were on ART were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months.Results: Most participants (64%, n = 263) were onART; overall, uptake of ART increased to 74% at 12 months. At baseline, 76% reported near perfect adherence; at 6 and 12months, 66% and 70% were adherent, respectively. A regression analysis indicated that the decline in adherence did not differbetween those couples in which one or both partners were on ART [F (2, 624) = 0.37, p = .692]. Pairwise comparisonindicated that adherence primarily decreased between baseline and 6 months (t = 2.72, p = .007), and was stable 6 to 12months.Conclusions: This study of couples in Zambia found adherence was not enhanced by having a partner on ART, andthat adherence declined over time. Partners on ART may not necessarily provide support for adherence to each other.Partners may represent an untapped resource for optimizing adherence; results highlight the need for provider guidance andstructured adherence interventions targeting partner adherence support.
KW - ART
KW - HIV
KW - Zambia
KW - adherence
KW - couples
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911914435&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84911914435&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2325957414553843
DO - 10.1177/2325957414553843
M3 - Article
C2 - 25294856
AN - SCOPUS:84911914435
SN - 2325-9574
VL - 13
SP - 497
EP - 500
JO - Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
JF - Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
IS - 6
ER -