Does Spirituality or Religion Hinder or Help Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Among Adolescents Living with HIV?

Abstract

Procedure: • This is an interim analysis of cross sectional baseline data analyzed from adolescents participating in the Longitudinal Pediatric Palliative Care: Quality of Life & Spiritual Struggle study. • Patients were enrolled in this 3-site randomized controlled clinical trial from July 2011 to October 2012 at Children’s National Health System, University of Miami, and St. Jude Hospital. • Measures were administered face-to-face by a trained research assistant. • Data were entered during the assessment onto Teleforms which were then scanned into a data base and verified independently. Measures: • Medication Adherence Self-Report Inventory (MASRI) using the visual analogue scale for selfreported percent adherence in the past month; • Brief RCOPE measured religious coping; • Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) measured daily spiritual experiences and attendance at religious services;