Abstract
BackgroundHuman Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality; because of this it continues to be a major global public health concern. It has believed to kill more than 34 million lives so far. Sub Saharan Africa constitutes about 70% of people living with HIV among the 37 million on the globe. This region, accounted for more than two third of the global new HIV infections and about 15 million (40%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the end of 2014 throught the world. ART has fundamentally changed the treatment of HIV and transformed this infection from a disease of high mortality to chronic and medically managed disease. The issues of drug induced toxicities & complexity of current highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens has remained of great concern. The aim of this study was to determine factors leading to antiretroviral regimen changes among HIV/AIDS Patients in the study area.MethodsA facility based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from April 28, 2017 to May 30, 2017 in the ART clinics of east and west Wollega zone health institutions using a pre-tested data collecting form and chart review. The sample included the 243 patients whose medication had been switched.ResultsMajority 145 (59.67%) of the patients had been on ART for > 10 years duration. More than half 126(51.9%) of the patients had received tuberculosis (TB) treatment and almost three out of five patients (57.2%) had received isoniazid & cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. The most common reason for regimen change was peripheral neuropathy 146(60.1%) and the most common medication for this reason was stavudine, lamivudine and neverapine based 108(44.44%).ConclusionsThe number of patients who changed ARV drug in our resource constrained setting present a challenge to the restricted treatment choices that we currently own. Less toxic and better-tolerated HIV treatment options should be available and used more frequently.
Highlights
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality; because of this it continues to be a major global public health concern
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the most advanced stage of HIV infection, which can take from 2 to 15 years to develop depending on the individual and it can be explained by the progression of opportunistic infections, or other intense clinical manifestations and certain cancers [1, 2]
Design, and period The study was conducted in the antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics of east and west Wollega zone health institutions, Oromia region, west Ethiopia; Nekemte town which is the capital of east Wollega is located 328 km where as Gimbi town which is the capital of west Wollega is 438 Km western to Addis Ababa [14]
Summary
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality; because of this it continues to be a major global public health concern. Sub Saharan Africa constitutes about 70% of people living with HIV among the 37 million on the globe This region, accounted for more than two third of the global new HIV infections and about 15 million (40%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the end of 2014 throught the world. Sub Saharan Africa constitutes about 70% of people living with HIV among the thirty seven million on the globe. This region, accounted for more than two third of the global new HIV infections in 2014 with only 12% of the global population. People receiving ART were about fifteen million (40%) among those living with HIV of which about fourteen million were in low- and middle –income countries and nearly one million were children [2]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
