Correlates and Predictors of Medication Adherence in Outpatients Living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is important in HIV outcomes and HIV prevention. However, ART adherence remains suboptimal in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH). This study examined associations among ART adherence and demographic, psychosocial, and religious factors in a sample of 292 PLWH. Average age of participants was 45.1 ± 7.8 years and they had been living with HIV for 10.8 ± 7.0 years, on average. Mean ART adherence scores differed significantly between participants based on age (F = 5.861, p = .016), depressive symptom status (F = 17.61, p < .0001), religious attendance (F = 5.901, p = .016), and prayer (F = 5.791, p = .017). Only age, social support, prayer, and negative religious coping were significant predictors of ART adherence, in a multivariate regression model. Higher ART adherence scores were significantly associated with being older than 50 years (β = .17, p = .014), greater social support satisfaction (β = .15, p = .031), praying daily or more (β = .17, p = .021) and lower negative religious coping scores (β = −.18, p = .014). Clinicians should assess/address these factors during ART treatment counseling.