Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy and Scheduled Clinic Visits of Persons Living with HIV in the Philippines

Written by Ryan Q. De Torres, Dula F. Pacquaio, Floreliz V. Ngaya-an, & Josefina A. Tuazon

doi: https://doi.org/10.13178/jnparr.2021.11.02.1104

Abstract

Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and scheduled clinic visits are vital in the control and management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) considering the dramatic rise of HIV cases in the Philippines.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate adherence to ART and scheduled clinic visits among persons living with HIV (PLHIV) who were in the first six months of treatment using Pender’s Health Promotion Model.

Methods: The study used descriptive, cross-sectional survey design. After training, point-of-contact persons, who had direct contact with participants, facilitated participant recruitment and distribution of questionnaires through consecutive sampling of 225 PLHIV in a single treatment hub in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Using STATA 14SE, descriptive and inferential statistics determined factors associated with adherence to
ART and scheduled clinic visits. Qualitative responses were analyzed separately.

Results: A higher percentage of participants were adherent to ART (91.0%) than to scheduled clinic visits (72.0%). Visit adherents had significantly lower average months of duration of care from clinic (M = 2.1, SD =1.6, p = .05) and higher average minutes of waiting time at clinic before receiving ART (M = 42.1, SD = 43.0, p = .02) than visit sub-adherents. Time and activity constraints were the primary reasons for lack of adherence to ART and scheduled clinic visits. Facilitators and barriers to adherence behaviors mostly come at the individual and health care level.

Conclusion: Adherence behaviors of PLHIV can be enhanced by health care systems that integrate health, educational, psychosocial, evaluation, and financial services.

Keywords: antiretroviral therapy (ART), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), ART adherence, Philippines, health promotion