33
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Patient Retention and Adherence to Antiretrovirals in a Large Antiretroviral Therapy Program in Nigeria: A Longitudinal Analysis for Risk Factors

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background

          Substantial resources and patient commitment are required to successfully scale-up antiretroviral therapy (ART) and provide appropriate HIV management in resource-limited settings. We used pharmacy refill records to evaluate risk factors for loss to follow-up (LTFU) and non-adherence to ART in a large treatment cohort in Nigeria.

          Methods and Findings

          We reviewed clinic records of adult patients initiating ART between March 2005 and July 2006 at five health facilities. Patients were classified as LTFU if they did not return >60 days from their expected visit. Pharmacy refill rates were calculated and used to assess non-adherence. We identified risk factors associated with LTFU and non-adherence using Cox and Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) regressions, respectively. Of 5,760 patients initiating ART, 26% were LTFU. Female gender (p<0.001), post-secondary education (p = 0.03), and initiating treatment with zidovudine-containing (p = 0.004) or tenofovir-containing (p = 0.05) regimens were associated with decreased risk of LTFU, while patients with only primary education (p = 0.02) and those with baseline CD4 counts (cell/ml 3) >350 and <100 were at a higher risk of LTFU compared to patients with baseline CD4 counts of 100–200. The adjusted GEE analysis showed that patients aged <35 years (p = 0.005), who traveled for >2 hours to the clinic (p = 0.03), had total ART duration of >6 months (p<0.001), and CD4 counts >200 at ART initiation were at a higher risk of non-adherence. Patients who disclosed their HIV status to spouse/family (p = 0.01) and were treated with tenofovir-containing regimens (p≤0.001) were more likely to be adherent.

          Conclusions

          These findings formed the basis for implementing multiple pre-treatment visit preparation that promote disclosure and active community outreaching to support retention and adherence. Expansion of treatment access points of care to communities to diminish travel time may have a positive impact on adherence.

          Related collections

          Most cited references39

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Patient Retention in Antiretroviral Therapy Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

          Introduction In the half decade since the first large-scale antiretroviral treatment (ART) programs for HIV/AIDS were launched in sub-Saharan Africa, much attention has focused on patients' day-to-day adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) medications [1–3]. Long-term retention of patients in treatment programs, a prerequisite for achieving any adherence at all, has received far less attention. Perhaps because most large scale treatment providers have few resources available to track missing patients, most studies treat patient attrition as a side issue and focus solely on describing those patients who are retained. Moreover, adherence can be assessed over very short periods, whereas long-term retention requires, by definition, long-standing programs. Attrition from antiretroviral treatment programs is generally divided into four categories. The two most common are (1) the death of the patient—several studies have reported high rates of early mortality—and (2) “loss to follow-up,” a catch-all category for patients who miss scheduled clinic visits or medication pickups for a specified period of time. Some patients remain in care but stop taking ARV medications (3). Others transfer to other facilities and continue on ART (4). Treatment discontinuation raises some of the same concerns about drug resistance that incomplete adherence does and, even worse, negates much of the benefit sought by those implementing treatment programs. Patients with clinical AIDS who discontinue ART will likely die within a relatively short time [4]. High rates of attrition from treatment programs thus pose a serious challenge to program implementers and constitute an inefficient use of scarce treatment resources. In this study, we analyzed reported treatment program retention and attrition in sub-Saharan Africa in order to document the magnitude of the problem and help policy makers and program managers address the challenge of patient retention. Methods Definitions For this review, “retention” refers to patients known to be alive and receiving highly active ART at the end of a follow-up period. “Attrition” is defined as discontinuation of ART for any reason, including death, loss to follow-up, and stopping ARV medications while remaining in care. Transfer to another ART facility, where reported, is not regarded as attrition—patients who transfer are assumed to be retained. We accepted the varying definitions of loss to follow-up used by the respective studies. Many studies considered patients lost if they were more than 3 mo late for a scheduled consultation or medication pickup, but some studies used more or less stringent definitions ranging from 1 to 6 mo late for a scheduled consultation or medication pick-up. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Studies were included in the review if they reported the proportion of adult HIV-1 patients retained in highly active ART programs implemented in service delivery (nonresearch) settings in sub-Saharan Africa. All patients who initiated ART had to be included in the report, not just those still in care at the time of censoring (i.e., only intention-to-treat analyses were included). Clinical trials, including Phase 3 trials, were excluded, although some subjects of reviewed studies transferred into the treatment program from a clinical trial. A median follow-up period of at least six full months (26 weeks) was also required. Studies that reported mortality but not other categories of attrition and studies that reported only on-treatment analyses, or where we were unable to determine whether the study was intention-to-treat or not, were also excluded. A few of the reviewed studies did not differentiate between adult and pediatric patients; those that considered only pediatric patients were excluded. Search Strategy To identify eligible studies, we conducted a systematic search of the English-language published literature, gray literature (project reports available online), and conference abstracts between 2000 and 2007. The search included Ovid Medline (1996 to July 2007), EMBASE (inception to July 2007), ISI Web of Science (August 2002 to July 2007), the Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (2002 to July 2007), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (inception to second quarter 2007). We also searched the abstracts of the conferences of the International AIDS Society (inception to 2006), the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (inception to 2007), the HIV Implementers' Meetings (2006–2007), and the South African AIDS Conference (2005–2007). The bibliographies of five recently published reviews of treatment outcomes, mortality, or ARV adherence in resource-constrained settings were also searched [1–3,5,6]. Our search strategy combined the terms “antiretroviral” and “Africa” or “developing countries” with each of retention/attrition/loss to follow-up/mortality/evaluation/efficacy. When more than one source reported on the same cohort of patients, the source containing the most detailed data about retention and attrition or the longest follow-up period was selected for the review. Although non-English databases were not searched, English-language abstracts of non-English papers identified in our search were included. Eligible studies were identified by the first author (SR) and eligibility confirmed by the other authors (MF and CG). It should be noted that the Antiretroviral Therapy in Low Income Countries (ART-LINC) collaboration has recently reported aggregate 1 y mortality and loss to follow-up rates for 13 cohorts in sub-Saharan Africa [5]. Some of the patients in these cohorts are included in the studies reviewed here. To avoid duplication, findings from the ART-LINC cohorts were not included in this analysis but are noted in the discussion. Data Analysis Most studies reported patient attrition at months 6, 12, and/or 24 after treatment initiation. We therefore used these same intervals in this analysis. For papers that reported on intervals other than 6, 12, or 24 mo, we classified the reported attrition rate using the nearest time point. If the report did not list attrition rates by time, but did list a median duration of observation, we estimated attrition at the 6, 12, or 24 mo interval closest to the reported observation period. In some cases, follow-up periods and/or retention rates were calculated by the authors using data provided in the article or extracted from figures (e.g. Kaplan-Meier survival curves). Where appropriate, we calculated weighted averages for demographic features of the cohort participants or other factors related to the studies. For proportions, averages were weighted by the inverse of their variances [1 ÷ (p × [1 − p] ÷ n), where p is the proportion and n is the sample size]. Because we did not have the individual patient data for continuous variables nor their standard deviations, we were unable to calculate variances for these variables. In these situations, we weighted by cohort size. In some instances, studies reported follow-up to 12 or 24 mo but did not report on intermediate retention rates. In plotting attrition for such studies over time we used extrapolated values, taking the midpoint between the known adjacent values. For example, if a study reported to 12 mo but did not report the 6 mo value, we defined the 6 mo value as the midpoint between 0 and 12 mo, with 100% at baseline representing all of those who initially started therapy. We calculated weighted average attrition rates at each interval (6, 12, and 24 mo) for the reported numbers of participants remaining when using reported values and for the estimated numbers of participants remaining when using extrapolated values. Selected demographic variables relating cohort or program characteristics to attrition rates were analyzed using linear regression. Because only a few studies reported beyond 24 mo, we were unable to calculate any meaningful summary statistics beyond the 24 mo mark. To estimate aggregate average attrition rates at 6, 12, and 24 mo we used several approaches. Attrition for each program was plotted separately and attrition rates calculated as the percentage of patients lost per month. We also plotted Kaplan-Meier survival curves using the 6, 12, and 24 mo intervals as the step-down points. Fewer studies presented 12 mo data than 6 mo data, however, and fewer still contained 24 mo data. Many of the studies with the highest attrition contributed data only for the shorter time intervals. Given the concern that shorter durations of reporting could be associated with lower rates of patient retention, we also conducted sensitivity analyses to model possible future retention. For the best-case scenario, we optimistically assumed that no further attrition would occur beyond the last reported observation and extrapolated the last reported retention value forward to 24 mo. In the worst-case scenario, we extrapolated the slope of attrition forward in time, assuming that each cohort's attrition would continue along the same slope from the last reported observation to month 24. We assigned a lower limit of 0% in those situations where the estimated future retention rate fell below 0%. Our midpoint scenario was the mean of the best- and worst-case scenarios. Analyses were conducted using Excel, SAS version 8.2, and SPSS version 11.0. Results We included 32 publications reporting on 33 patient cohorts totaling 74,289 patients in 13 countries in our analysis. These studies were selected from a total of 871 potentially relevant, unique citations identified in our search (Figure 1). Figure 1 Study Flow Chart Table 1 summarizes key features of the studies, including the sites at which they were conducted. Not all of the publications reported all the details we sought about program and patient characteristics and retention, but all provided at least one indicator of patient retention after a median follow-up period of at least 6 mo. The studies report on patients who initiated ART as early as 1996, though most enrolled their cohorts between 2001 and 2004. The studies were published or presented between 2002 and 2007, with the majority appearing as peer reviewed articles in 2006 or 2007. Most of the programs were implemented by the public sector (17 of 33, 52%). Of 33 cohorts, 15 (45%) fully subsidized the cost of ART; six (18%) were partially subsidized; and six (18%) required patients to pay fully for their care; the rest did not report their payment structure. Roughly half were single-site programs (15 of 33, 45%); multi-site programs contributed data from between two and 69 sites. Table 1 Characteristics of Antiretroviral Treatment Programs and Patient Cohorts Included in This Analysis (extended on next page) Table 1 Extended. Table 1 also provides the population characteristics of the cohorts studied. The weighted mean age of the cohort participants was 35.5 y, and 53.7% of all patients were female (range 6%–70%). All but one cohort had median starting CD4+ T cell counts at or well below 200 × 103 cells/mm3, with a weighted mean starting CD4+ T cell count of 132 × 103 cells/mm3 (range 43–204). Table 2 presents the proportion of patients from each cohort who remained alive and under treatment with antiretroviral medications, transferred to another treatment facility, died, were lost to follow-up, or discontinued treatment with ARVs but remained in care at the end of the median follow-up period. Bearing in mind that we excluded studies with less than 6 mo median follow-up, the weighted average follow-up was 9.9 mo, after which time overall retention of patients alive, in care, and on ART was 77.5%. Table 2 Median Follow-Up and Rates of Patient Attrition, as Reported, from Antiretroviral Treatment Programs Across all the cohorts, the largest contributor to attrition was loss to follow-up (56% of attrition), followed by death (40% of attrition). The widely varying definitions of loss to follow-up used by the studies are indicated in Table 2. A small fraction (4% of attrition) discontinued ART but remained under care at the same site. Table 3 reports overall retention at 6, 12, and 24 mo. SA 1 had the highest retention at 12 mo. While this program did not report for 6 mo, at 12 mo its retention of 90% was still higher than the highest reported value among the programs that reported their 6 mo outcomes. The programs with the lowest retention at each time point were Malawi 4 (55%) at 6 mo; Uganda 2 (49%) at 12 mo; and Uganda 1 (46%) at 24 mo. Malawi 4 did not report beyond 6 mo and Uganda 2 did not report beyond 12 mo, but were both on a trajectory toward even lower retention rates at the later time points. Table 3 Retention of Patients at 6, 12, and 24 Months after Initiation of ART Using linear regression, we found no association between 6 mo attrition rates and cohort size (p = 0.32), attrition and baseline CD4+ cell counts (p = 0.72), proportion of women (p = 0.23), or year of program initiation (p = 0.40). Programs that required no payment had higher retention rates at 6 mo compared to those requiring partial or full payment (86.5% versus 76.7%, p = 0.01). Figures 2A–2C plot attrition rates for each cohort separately. The studies are clustered on the basis of duration of reporting. By 6 mo, 9 of 33 cohorts (27%) had 20% or greater attrition rates; by 12 mo this proportion had risen to 16 of 25 reporting cohorts (64%). Figure 2 Attrition Rates by Reporting Duration (A) Studies reporting to 6 mo median follow-up. (B) Studies reporting to 12 mo median follow-up. (C) Studies reporting to 24 mo median follow-up. (D) Weighted mean attrition rates by duration cohort. SA, South Africa. The weighted mean retention rates as reported in the studies were 79.8% at 6 mo, 75.1% at 12 mo, and 61.6% at 24 mo. As an alternative approach, we also plotted Kaplan-Meier survival curves at months 6, 12, and 24 for all the studies combined. The largest fall-off occurred between 6 and 12 mo; overall retention was approximately 89% by 6 mo, 70% by 1 year, and just under 60% by 2 years. Four of the eight studies in Figure 2A with attrition of at least 20% at 6 mo included data only to 6 mo. Similarly, of the cohorts with data at 12 mo and attrition of 25% or more, six of 11 did not extend beyond 12 mo. We therefore calculated the slopes for attrition rates for each group of cohorts in Figure 2A–2C separately, to determine if the average monthly attrition rates differed as the duration of reporting increased. As shown in Figure 2D, the weighted mean attrition rates were 3.3%/month, 1.9%/month, and 1.6%/month for studies reporting to 6 mo, 12 mo, and 24 mo, respectively, raising the possibility that shorter durations of reporting were associated with lower retention rates. Given this apparent reporting bias, we were concerned that reporting average retention rates using the simple aggregate weighted averages reported above would overestimate actual retention. We therefore conducted sensitivity analyses to model attrition rates under three different scenarios. As shown in Figure 3, all three scenarios are the same at 6 mo, with approximately 80% retention. Under the best-case scenario, further attrition would be negligible, with more than 76% still retained by the end of 2 y. Under the worst-case scenario, 76% of patients would be lost by 2 y. The midpoint scenario predicted patient retention of 50% by 2 y. Figure 3 Sensitivity Analysis for Attrition Discussion The analysis presented here suggests that ART programs in Africa are retaining, on average, roughly 80% of their patients after 6 mo on ART and between one-fourth and three-fourths of their patients by the end of 2 y, depending on the estimating method used. Prior to the availability of ART in Africa, the median interval from HIV infection to AIDS-related death was under 10 y; once a patient was diagnosed with AIDS, median survival was less than 1 y [7]. Since most patients in Africa initiate ART only after an AIDS diagnosis, most ART patients would have died within a year had antiretroviral therapy not been available. Each patient who is retained in care and on ART can thus be regarded as a life saved and a source of tremendous benefit to patients' families and communities. For those who have struggled to launch and expand treatment programs in resource-constrained settings, reaching a 60% patient retention—and thus survival—rate after two years of treatment, as estimated by the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, in just a few years' time is an extraordinary accomplishment. It is also noteworthy in the global context: in developed countries, adherence to medication for chronic diseases in general averages only 50% [8]. Similarly, treatment completion rates for tuberculosis, which requires a temporary rather than permanent commitment to adherence and a less demanding dosing schedule, average 74% in the African region, with a range among countries from 22% to 94% [9]. Taken in the context of medication adherence in general, the record of African ART programs lies within the bounds of previous experience. At the same time, however, losing up to half of those who initiate ART within two years is cause for concern. From the data as reported, attrition averaged roughly 22% at 10 mo of follow-up. This average comprised mainly deaths (40% of attrition) and losses to follow-up (56%). In comparison, the ART-LINC Collaboration, which analyzed data from 18 cohorts across the developing world, reported loss to follow-up rates among the 13 sub-Saharan African cohorts averaging 15% (range 0%–44%) in the first year after initiation; mortality averaged 4.2% across all 18 cohorts (African regional rate not provided) [5]. On the basis of our survival and sensitivity analyses, we believe that actual attrition is higher than the 22% average we report, mainly because the programs with the highest attrition were least likely to provide data beyond the first 6 mo of ART. There are several plausible explanations for the higher attrition seen among programs with shorter durations of reporting. One possibility is that limited availability of resources to a given program could affect both its ability to retain patients and to conduct long-term surveillance of its outcomes. Another, less pessimistic explanation is that shorter durations of reporting reflect newer programs that are still in the process of developing optimal strategies for patient retention: had they reported at a later point in their implementation, retention rates might have been higher. The magnitude of the under-reporting bias is also uncertain, although our sensitivity analysis gives a plausible range between two implausible extremes (the best case being implausible because it assumes zero further attrition beyond the point of last reporting, and the worst case because it assumes that there will be constant attrition over time, rather than reaching a plateau or at least slowing substantially). The midpoint scenario suggests that approximately half of all patients started on ART were no longer on treatment at the end of two years. One of the principal challenges to this analysis is interpreting the large proportion of attrition from “loss to follow-up.” Some of these patients undoubtedly represent unrecorded deaths, but others may be patients who identified alternative sources for ART or had taken an extended “break” from therapy, to which they will return when their condition worsens again or they obtain the financial resources needed for transport or clinic fees. One study in Malawi discovered, for example, that 24% of patients originally recorded as lost to follow-up re-enrolled at the same site two years later when ART became free of charge [10]. For some of the studies included in this analysis, on the other hand, the unrecorded death explanation is more persuasive. For example, the Zambia 1 cohort of more than 16,000 patients reported 21% loss to follow-up after approximately 6 mo [11]. The scope and scale of this program means that it is the primary source of ART in Lusaka, making it unlikely that most of the estimated 3,300 lost patients could have found alternative sources of care. A recent attempt to trace lost-to-follow-up patients in Malawi determined that 50% had died, 27% could not be found, and most of the rest had stopped ART [12]. Because those reporting on these cohorts do not know what ultimately happened to patients categorized as lost to follow-up, high loss to follow-up rates can have varied interpretations. A good deal of research on barriers to adherence and reasons for treatment discontinuation has been published [13]. Important barriers to adherence include cost of drugs and/or transport, fear of disclosure or stigma, and side effects [14,15]. Some of these barriers can be addressed relatively easily, for example by providing transport vouchers to ensure that patients can attend the clinic; others, such as stigma, require more profound changes. In any case, high reported rates of loss to follow-up are a strong call to improve patient tracing procedures, to minimize the number of patients who fall into the difficult-to-address category of “lost, reason unknown.” Given that the long-term prognosis of ART patients is inversely related to starting CD4+ T cell counts [16,17], an additional issue to consider is the low median starting CD4+ cell counts reported by every one of the studies in this analysis. This problem has been identified previously, particularly in South Africa [18–20]. The analysis here makes clear that the problem is nearly universal in Africa and cuts across all types of treatment programs. It is evident in the high death rates reported by some studies after only a few months of follow-up, such as Malawi 3. There is a high degree of heterogeneity in retention rates between the different cohorts in our analysis and among categories of attrition. Some programs appear to have been highly successful in retaining patients, while others clearly struggled to do so. Some programs have suffered high mortality rates but low loss to follow-up, others the opposite. Early mortality, which may be largely due to the late stage at which many patients present for treatment, requires interventions different from those needed to address later loss to follow-up, about which very little is known. Interventions to address the various types of attrition must thus be tailored to local circumstances. The success of some programs with very high retention may provide examples that others can follow. The findings here can thus be seen as a part of an ongoing process to identify and solve problems within existing treatment programs, even as we expand their scope and launch new ones. Our analysis has a number of limitations, chiefly that incomplete reporting forced us to extrapolate some values. Extrapolating backward assumes that attrition rates are distributed linearly over time, which is unlikely to be the case. Evidence from this and other studies suggest that the highest attrition occurs during the first 6 mo. However, this limitation only pertains to the shape of the attrition curves, not to their final end points. Extrapolating forward, which we used only in the sensitivity analysis to establish the hypothetical “worst case” scenario, also suffers from this limitation, compounded by the fact that our confidence in the forward boundary is limited. In addition, our analysis is necessarily limited to publicly available reports and thus potentially subject to publication bias. Researchers may be less inclined to publish long-term outcomes from cohorts that have experienced very high early attrition. It is also likely that programs with better access to resources, both financial and human, are also better able to monitor, analyze, and publish their results. Our aggregate findings may thus represent the better-resourced programs in Africa. In conclusion, African ART programs are retaining about 60% of their patients in the first two years. This average masks a great deal of heterogeneity, however. At one end of the spectrum represented by the reviewed studies, two-year retention neared 90%; at the other end, attrition reached 50%. Better information on those who are lost to follow-up is urgently needed. Since losses to follow-up account for the majority of all attrition in more than half of the studies reviewed, the problem of attrition cannot be addressed effectively without better means to track patients. Only then can we address the pressing question of why patients drop out and what conditions, assistance, or incentives will be needed to retain them. Supporting Information Protocol S1 Search Protocol (85 KB DOC) Click here for additional data file.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Adherence to HAART: A Systematic Review of Developed and Developing Nation Patient-Reported Barriers and Facilitators

            Introduction The introduction of antiretrovirals has been credited with extending the life span of people living with HIV/AIDS [1]. However, treatment efficacy relies on access to treatment and excellent adherence, which has proven to be a serious challenge to those receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) [2,3]. The regimens are often complicated, can require dietary restrictions, and may lead to adverse effects [4]. Non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy in adult populations has been shown to range from 33%–88%, depending on how adherence is defined and evaluated [5]. Research indicates that consistently high levels of adherence are necessary for reliable viral suppression [6,7] and prevention of resistance [8], disease progression [9], and death [10]. As successful HIV treatment requires exceptional adherence to antiretroviral therapy, interventions to improve and maintain adherence are needed. Several studies have been conducted that examine factors affecting adherence to HAART. We used a novel methodology to synthesize the information from these studies by performing a systematic review on all the literature available in this field using content analysis, particularly focusing on the currently existing qualitative studies and examining their generalizability through quantitative data. We examined both developed and developing nation patient populations [11]. Methods Search Strategy We performed a systematic, all-language literature search for all qualitative studies and quantitative surveys that addressed barriers and motivators influencing adherence to antiretroviral regimens in HIV-positive individuals. We (EJM and BR) searched the following databases: AMED (inception to June 2005), Campbell Collaboration (inception to June 2005), CinAhl (inception to June 2005), Cochrane Library (inception to June 2005), Embase (inception to June 2005), ERIC (inception to June 2005), MedLine (inception to June 2005), and NHS EED (inception to June 2005). Unpublished studies were also sought using the search terms “adherence” and “HIV” on Clinicaltrials.gov, the UK National Research Register, and conference abstracts from international conference Web sites: International AIDS Society conferences (inception to 2005) and Conferences on Retroviruses and Opportunitistic Infections (inception to 2005). Our search strategy combined terms that represented attitudes, barriers, and anxieties. Our search vocabulary included “HIV” or “AIDS”, “compliance OR adherence”, “factors OR determinant* OR barriers”, “motivate* OR facilit*”, and “HAART OR antiretroviral*”. The detailed search strategy is available from the corresponding author upon request. We supplemented this search by reviewing the bibliographies of key papers. Study Selection Two members of the study team (BR and PW) independently reviewed the abstracts. Eligible studies met the following criteria: (1) reported an original research study, (2) contained content addressing barriers or facilitators to antiretroviral adherence, and (3) were either a qualitative study or quantitative survey. The studies were divided to represent developed or developing nations, as according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) [12]. The HDI is a composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: longevity, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Figure 1 Flow Chart of Studies Included in Review Data Extraction Two reviewers (BR and PW) independently extracted data and appraised both quality and content. From an initial review of qualitative studies by BR and PW, a coding template was iteratively developed to categorize key barriers to adherence to HAART. The reviewers then conducted a second review of the papers and identified whether they contained the barriers present in the complete template. At each stage of the data abstraction, the reviewers discussed the studies to determine consensus regarding the identification and coding of themes. We analyzed the themes presented in the qualitative studies. After the initial viewing of the selected articles, these themes were grouped into categories. Barriers/facilitators fell under the following subheadings: (1) patient-related, (2) beliefs about medication, (3) daily schedules, and (4) interpersonal factors/relationships. To determine the extent to which these themes exist in the wider communities of developed and developing nations, the reviewers then abstracted data from the survey studies to determine if the issues addressed in the qualitative studies had been asked about in the surveys. We abstracted data on the prevalence of the issues as reported in the surveys. We extracted data on the quality of both qualitative and quantitative studies using pre-determined criteria for quality. We previously reported our rationale for assessing the quality of qualitative studies and in this study have extended our quality assessment to examine quantitative surveys [13]. Although no formal criteria exist for appraising the quality of surveys, we a priori determined that the following criteria are important across surveys: 1) the survey included members of the target community in the preparation of the survey tool, 2) the survey instrument was assessed for face validity, 3) the survey population was randomly selected, 4) a rationale for determining the response rate was provided, and 4) the investigators attempted to contact non-responders. We did not propose a cut-off score for higher-quality surveys versus lower-quality surveys. Table 1 Study Characteristics Table 2 Reporting Criteria of Qualitative Studies Table 3 Quality Criteria for Survey Studies Statistical Analysis We measured chance-adjusted inter-rater agreement for eligibility using the κ statistic. EM and PW conducted all statistical analyses. When information on proportions was available in the quantitative studies, we first stabilized the variances of the raw proportions (r/n) using a Freeman-Tukey-type arcsine square-root transformation [14], and then conducted weighted analysis of studies using methods described by Fleiss [15]. The pooled proportion is calculated as the back-transform of the weighted mean of the transformed proportions, using inverse arcsine variance weights for the fixed-effects model and DerSimonian-Laird weights for the random-effects model. The random-effects model recognizes that the studies are a sample of all potential studies and incorporates an additional between-study component to the estimate of variability [16]. Thus, larger studies with smaller variances have relatively more impact on the final estimate. We present the weighted mean with 95% confidence intervals, with lower confidence intervals truncated at zero. The I2 statistic was calculated as a measure of the proportion of the overall variation in the meta-analyses that was attributable to between-study heterogeneity [17]. Table 4 Barriers to Adherence Identified in Qualitative Studies (Developed Countries) Figure 2 Barriers Reported in Developed Countries Results Study Selection and Characteristics The primary literature search produced 228 studies. There was near-perfect agreement between EJM and BR on choosing the 115 applicable studies from the reviewed abstracts (K ≥ 0.8). Of these, 31 were excluded as they were either not original studies or did not examine factors that influence adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The remaining 84 studies were included in our analysis (see Figure 1). There was perfect agreement on the final studies selected between BR and PW. All studies were published in English. Thirty-seven of the studies were qualitative (see Tables 1 and 2). Twelve used focus groups (total number of patients, n = 415) [18–29], 15 used semi-structured interviews (n = 729) [30–44], and nine used open-ended questioning (n = 694) [45–53] to explore barriers and facilitators to adherence. One study employed a writing intervention to solicit barriers and motivators to adherence [54]. The 47 remaining studies employed a quantitative methodology (surveys) and used structured questionnaires or structured interviews (total n = 12,902 [55]) [4,56–100] to determine potential factors. Table 3 displays the quality criteria results for the quantitative studies. No studies reported following up with non-responders to the surveys. Of the total sample of eligible studies, 72 were conducted in developed countries [4,18–25,30–39,44–46,48–50,53–56,58,59,61,62,64–67,69–76,79–81,83,84,86,87,108], and 12 in developing nations [47,52,57,60,63,68,77,78,82,85,94,96]. Fifty-six were from the United States [4,18–26,28,30–36,38–40,46,49–51,53,54,58,59,61,62,66,67,70,71,73,74,76,79–81,84,86,88–91,93,95,108], three from Canada [27,45,72], three from the United Kingdom [55,69,98], two from Italy [56,64], two from France [75,92], two from The Netherlands [42,83], and one each from Australia [48], Switerland [37], and Belgium [44]. Two studies were multinational [65,87]. The studies conducted in developing countries included four from Brazil [47,68,78,85], and one each from Uganda [57], Cote d'Ivoire [63], South Africa [82], Malawi [96], Botswana [52], Costa Rica [94], Romania [60], and China [77]. Tables 4 and 5 outline the factors affecting HAART adherence reported by HIV-positive individuals from developed and developing countries as determined by the qualitative studies. Table 5 Facilitators Reported in Qualitative Studies Barriers and Facilitators Listed by Patients in Developed Countries: Themes from Qualitative Studies Barriers. Thirty-three individual themes of barriers were recorded in 34 qualitative studies (see Table 4). Patient-related: Thirteen barriers were patient-related and included: a fear of disclosure and wanting to avoid taking medications in public places (23/34) [18–20,22–25,27–29,31–33,35–37,40,42,44,45,49–51,108]; feeling depressed, hopeless, or overwhelmed (18/34) [19,23–26,29,31,33,36,40,41,43,45,46,49,50]; having a concurrent addiction (14/34) [23,24,27,31,33,36,39–42,49–51,81]; and forgetting to take medication at the specified time (11/34) [20,24,25,28,31–33,37,40,44,50]. Other barriers include: being suspicious of treatment/medical establishment (9/34) [21,26,35,36,38,41,42,50,51]; wanting to be free of medications or preferring a natural approach (10/34) [20,21,29,31,32,37,44,50,54,108]; feeling that treatment is a reminder of HIV status (8/34) [18,32,38,39,41,43,49,54]; wanting to be in control (7/34) [28,31,37,38,41,54,108]; not understanding treatment instructions (5/34) [31,33,36,38,42]; still having doubt or not being able to accept HIV status (5/34) [18,33,42,44,51]; and a lack of self-worth (4/34) [35,43,44,51]. Financial constraints [31,42,46], being homeless [40,42], and having other concurrent illnesses affecting adherence were also cited. Beliefs about medication: There were eight reported barriers pertaining to beliefs/perceptions about medications. Some common barriers in this category included: side effects (either real or anticipated) (27/34) [18,20,21,23–32,35,37,38,41–46,48–50,54,108]; complicated regimens (12/34) [18,22,23,26–28,32,42,48–50,54]; and the taste, size, dosing frequency, and/or pill count (12/34) [18,20,23–25,29,45,48–50,54]. In nine studies, when individuals prescribed HAART felt healthy, adherence was often negatively affected [22,24,25,29,32,33,38,43,44]. Other barriers included: doubting the efficacy of HAART (7/34) [21,23,25,26,42,45,46]; having a decreased quality of life (6/34) [20,24,25,38,42,46]; uncertainty of long-term effects (6/34) [30,32,45,46,48,49]; and unwanted changes in body image (5/34) [18,28,37,45,54]. Daily schedules: Nine common barriers were related to daily schedules and included: disruptions in routine or having a chaotic schedule (16/34) [19,22,23,25,27,30,37,39–45,54,108]; finding HAART too inconvenient or difficult to incorporate (14/34) [19,20,27–29,31,32,37,38,41,44,46,48,54,108]; and difficulties coordinating adherence with work, family, or care-giving responsibilities (11/34) [18,20,24,27,28,31,32,37,45,54]. Individuals in seven studies found it difficult to balance the numerous strict dietary requirements associated with HAART [18,19,22,25,30,39,45]. Six studies cited sleeping through a dose [19,29,31,39,40,49]. Other barriers included: being away from home and not bringing medication (6/34) [24,31,33,39,40,42]; being too distracted or busy (5/34) [24,29,33,40,51]; and having no time to refill prescriptions, or other pharmacy-related problems (4/34) [22,24,25,31]. Finally, four studies described difficulties with a particular dose, particularly the middle-of-day or early-morning dose [19,29,42,48]. Interpersonal relationships: Interpersonal relationships can affect adherence behaviors. Twelve studies noted a lack of trust or a dislike of a patient's health-care provider as an impediment to adherence [21–24,27,31,34,36,38,42,49,50]. Ten studies noted social isolation [23,25,33,36,42,44,48–51]. Nine studies noted negative publicity regarding HAART or the medical establishment [21,28,35,36,38,44–46,51]. Finally, five studies noted that having a discouraging social network often deterred patients from successful adherence (5/34) [21,23,28,35,45]. Facilitators. Patient-related: Fourteen factors facilitating successful adherence to HAART were abstracted. Patient-related facilitators included having self-worth (15/23) [19,23,26,28,29,32,36,41,42,44,45,49–51,53], medication taking priority over substance use (4/23) [23,36,40,42] and seeing positive results when adhering to HAART (6/23) [24,26,28,32,45,50]. Also, those patients who had accepted their HIV-seropositivity reported improved adherence (8/23) [18,28,29,32,41,44,49,51]. Beliefs about medication: The most common motivator (12/23) to adherence is a belief in the efficacy of HAART and “having faith” in the treatment [18,19,21–24,42,44,45,49,50,53]. Other motivators included understanding the need for strict compliance (9/23) [18,24,26,28,30,32,36,42,44], and having a simple regimen (3/23)[18,21,49]. Daily schedules: Twelve studies reported learning to balance HAART with daily schedules as a facilitator of adherence. Having a routine in which taking antiretrovirals could be easily incorporated (11/23) [22,23,26,30,32,36,40,42,44,45,49], and making use of reminder tools (7/23) [18,22,23,40,42,44,49] are both reported to be effective tools for optimizing adherence. Interpersonal relationships: Positive interpersonal relationships were reported as necessary for successful adherence. Having a trusting relationship with a health-care provider was reported as a facilitator of adherence in 17 studies [18,19,21–24,28,29,32,34,36,42,44,45,49–51,53,108]. In addition, openly disclosing HIV status to family and friends and having a strong support network was reported as influential to adherence (18/23) [18,19,22,23,26,30,32,35,36,40,42–45,49–51,53]. Other motivators included: living for someone, especially, children (9/23) [19,21,23,26,28,43,45,50,51]; being actively involved in treatment decision making (4/23) [18,22,34,36]; and using friends and family as reminders (6/23) [18,19,23,35,40,53]. Common themes from surveys and quantitative studies. Figure 2 displays the pooled results of studies assessing barriers and reporting proportions of responders. Table 6 displays the surveys that did inquire of the issues addressed in the qualitative studies. There were three barriers described in qualitative reports but not in the quantitative studies. These were: having suspicions regarding HAART, wanting to be in control, and doubting or having difficulty accepting one's HIV status. Table 6 Barriers Reported in Quantitative Studies (Surveys) Eight quantitative studies reported facilitators to adherence (see Table 7). Four themes for facilitation of adherence were mentioned in the qualitative studies that were not discussed in the relevant quantitative studies (i.e., having medication take priority over substance abuse, having a simple regimen, using reminder tools, and living for someone). Barriers Listed by Patients in Developing Countries: Themes from Qualitative Studies As there were only two studies identified, we describe the findings here. Eighteen specific barriers are cited in two studies [47,52]. Patient-related: The most common patient-related barriers were: having a co-existing substance addiction, simply forgetting, and financial constraints [47,52]. Other barriers affecting adherence incorporated: a fear of disclosure [52]; difficulty understanding both treatment instructions; the need for compliance [47]; and the presence of concurrent diseases or illnesses, including malnutrition [52]. Beliefs about medication: Barriers reflective of patient beliefs regarding antiretrovirals included: side effects (either real or anticipated) [52]; complicated regimens [52]; the taste, size, and frequency of dosing [52]; having doubts about HAART efficacy [47]; feeling fine or healthy [52]; a decreased quality of life while taking medications, or feeling too sick [52]; and being uncertain about potential long-term effects of HIV treatment [47]. Daily schedules: Trouble incorporating work and family responsibilities with HAART was seen as a barrier to adherence in both studies. Traveling long distances to receive treatment was common, and not surprisingly, transportation difficulties were often reported to be a major hindrance to adherence (2/2). Other barriers included running out of medications or having an irregular supply [52]; being away from home [52]; and being too busy or distracted to properly comply [52]. No studies mentioned interpersonal relationships as a barrier to adherence in this population. No facilitators to adherence were discussed in any study in a developing nation setting. Themes from surveys and quantitative studies. Ten surveys were found in developing settings (see Figure 3). No quantitative study enquired of difficulties with morning or afternoon doses, work and family responsibilities, or listed inconvenience as a barrier. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to examine the concerns of HIV patients to maintaining adherence. We found that fear of disclosure, forgetfulness, a lack of understanding of treatment benefits, complicated regimens, and being away from their medications were consistent barriers to adherence across developed and developing nations. More common to developing settings were issues of access, including financial constraints and a disruption in access to medications. While there is a tremendous paucity of qualitative research in developing settings, our findings indicate that many barriers to adherence can be addressed with patients through discussion and education regarding treatment benefits to health. In developing settings, access to medications is the greatest concern. Indeed, discussion in both economic settings may alleviate patients' suspicions regarding treatment and address practical barriers to improve adherence. This study should also be used to guide the development of interventions aiming to improve adherence in any setting. This study has several important strengths. The methods we employed to tabulate these findings come from a multi-step process. We first systematically identified qualitative and quantitative studies examining the questions. We then extracted the themes from the qualitative studies and determined which of them were sampled in the quantitative studies. Finally, we synthesized the available quantitative data. By systematically determining the existence and prevalence of barriers in multiple qualitative and quantitative studies, we believe that stronger inferences can be made into patient-related adherence obstacles and facilitators. We have previously demonstrated that surveys benefit from systematically examining qualitative studies, as this improves content validity [13,101]. To this end, our review of qualitative studies identified several key themes addressing barriers to adherence that were not examined in larger quantitative studies. The presence of barriers in more than one qualitative study, consisting of populations of patients representing different patient populations, supports the conclusion that these barriers are somewhat applicable. Our meta-analysis of survey data is a relatively new process that we have previously demonstrated [102,103], and can permit stronger inferences into the generalizability of our findings. Finally, our criteria to assess the quality of both qualitative studies and surveys are a new contribution to the methodological literature. Recognizing that the absence of reporting particular methodological criteria may not reflect what was actually conducted during a study [104], we invite discussion regarding the relative usefulness and applicability of these criteria. This work has several limitations. We aimed to reduce reviewer bias by conducting abstraction independently, in duplicate. We cannot, however, know to what extent we may miss themes or to what extent reporting bias of the original report may have contributed. We emphasize that our methodology is specific but not sensitive for identifying themes. Reporting bias in the included manuscripts may have limited our ability to identify all barriers and facilitators to adherence. A broad range of economic and social conditions fall under the Human Development Index. It would wrong to assume that all individuals living in a HDI-categorized “developed” nation are in a better economic situation than all individuals living in a “developing” nation. Detailed information pertaining to this was rarely available in the original reports included in this review. It is possible that surveys used in developing nations were similar to surveys used in developed nations. However, the validity of these surveys in developing settings may not be appropriate, and we press for further qualitative research on this topic. Detailed population descriptions (e.g., education level) and the regional conditions from which this study is produced (e.g., gross national product) would benefit interpretation of future studies in this field. There are several interpretations of appropriate adherence and execution of drug regimens. We did not evaluate patients' perceptions of what “adherence” mean to them, whether it meant acceptance, execution, or persistence of drug therapy [105]. In our meta-analyses of pooled survey data, we found large heterogeneity (as displayed by the I2 values in Figures 2 and 3), indicating large variation between the surveys. Very little methodological literature deals with pooling proportions, and our findings call for further exploration to determine the importance of this heterogeneity. Finally, there were few studies in developing countries that studied early adopters to antiretroviral therapy. These individuals may not be representative of the larger epidemic and may not have experienced longer-term side effects of therapy. Table 7 Facilitators Reported in Quantitative Studies (Surveys) It is important to note that the qualitative studies generated a richer spectrum of barriers and facilitators than did the quantitative studies. Qualitative studies are superior at identifying patient-important barriers and facilitators. We would submit that the ideal study of adherence would be one that occurs across several phases and incorporates both qualitative and quantitative elements. For example, to avoid biasing one's investigation with a priori assumptions about what may be important factors relating to adherence in a given population, it is logical to commence a study with qualitative research, thereby allowing the local population to tell the researchers what they believe to be important barriers, rather than the reverse. By using questionnaires developed in settings that are economically or culturally foreseeably different, the surveys force respondents to answer potentially irrelevant questions. Clearly, the evidence base for barriers and facilitators of adherence is far richer from developed countries than from developing countries. In our analysis we found only two qualitative studies published from developing nation settings. This is sadly paradoxical, given that the vast majority of HIV/AIDS patients live in the developing world, and over the coming decades will constitute a growing proportion, and probably the majority, of the world's HAART recipients. Consequently, we see further research on HAART adherence in developing countries that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative elements as a priority. Figure 3 Barriers Reported in Developing Countries Our findings should influence adherence program delivery systems in developing settings. We found that issues such as fear of disclosure, suspicions about treatment, forgetfulness, and irregular supply were important barriers identified by large proportions of the populations studied. It seems appropriate that before mandating any adherence program, such as disclosure or accompagnateurs, opportunities should be provided for individuals who require opting out [106,107]. Further, in developing settings, the reliability of medication access is an important adherence barrier that individuals have little opportunity to facilitate. Patient-level adherence can be determined only when a steady supply of medication exists. We identified a broad range of barriers and facilitators to adherence. These barriers should be inferred as guides for interventional research to improve adherence rates. Given the many factors tabulated in this review, clinicians should use this information to engage in open discussion with patients to promote adherence and identify barriers and facilitators within their own populations. The methodology we used to pool the quantitative data is novel and may prove a useful methodological tool for generalizing patient-important issues.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Adherence to antiretroviral therapy in a home-based AIDS care programme in rural Uganda.

              Poverty and limited health services in rural Africa present barriers to adherence to antiretroviral therapy that necessitate innovative options other than facility-based methods for delivery and monitoring of such therapy. We assessed adherence to antiretroviral therapy in a cohort of HIV-infected people in a home-based AIDS care programme that provides the therapy and other AIDS care, prevention, and support services in rural Uganda. HIV-infected individuals with advanced HIV disease or a CD4-cell count of less than 250 cells per muL were eligible for antiretroviral therapy. Adherence interventions included group education, personal adherence plans developed with trained counsellors, a medicine companion, and weekly home delivery of antiretroviral therapy by trained lay field officers. We analysed factors associated with pill count adherence (PCA) of less than 95%, medication possession ratio (MPR) of less than 95%, and HIV viral load of 1000 copies per mL or more at 6 months (second quarter) and 12 months (fourth quarter) of follow-up. 987 adults who had received no previous antiretroviral therapy (median CD4-cell count 124 cells per muL, median viral load 217,000 copies per mL) were enrolled between July, 2003, and May, 2004. PCA of less than 95% was calculated for 0.7-2.6% of participants in any quarter and MPR of less than 95% for 3.3-11.1%. Viral load was below 1000 copies per mL for 894 (98%) of 913 participants in the second quarter and for 860 (96%) of 894 of participants in the fourth quarter. In separate multivariate models, viral load of at least 1000 copies per mL was associated with both PCA below 95% (second quarter odds ratio 10.6 [95% CI 2.45-45.7]; fourth quarter 14.5 [2.51-83.6]) and MPR less than 95% (second quarter 9.44 [3.40-26.2]; fourth quarter 10.5 [4.22-25.9]). Good adherence and response to antiretroviral therapy can be achieved in a home-based AIDS care programme in a resource-limited rural African setting. Health-care systems must continue to implement, evaluate, and modify interventions to overcome barriers to comprehensive AIDS care programmes, especially the barriers to adherence with antiretroviral therapy.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, USA )
                1932-6203
                2010
                11 May 2010
                : 5
                : 5
                : e10584
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
                [2 ]Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Kano State, Nigeria
                [3 ]University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin, Edo State, Nigeria
                [4 ]Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria
                [5 ]University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
                [6 ]University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
                [7 ]Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
                [8 ]Department of Family and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
                University of Cape Town, South Africa
                Author notes

                Conceived and designed the experiments: MC JF WAB. Performed the experiments: AH EE PE II SA. Analyzed the data: MC MO RB PM. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MC AH EE PE II SA ME UG EI AA PD JF WAB. Wrote the paper: MC MO ME MAE AA JF WAB. Supervised patient care: AH EE PE II SA. Coordinated the ACTION Project: PD.

                Article
                09-PONE-RA-15075R1
                10.1371/journal.pone.0010584
                2868044
                20485670
                97ab883e-e12f-4223-9747-c48bd693e9e3
                Charurat et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
                History
                : 21 December 2009
                : 2 April 2010
                Page count
                Pages: 9
                Categories
                Research Article
                Evidence-Based Healthcare/Health Services Research and Economics
                Infectious Diseases/HIV Infection and AIDS
                Public Health and Epidemiology/Global Health

                Uncategorized
                Uncategorized

                Comments

                Comment on this article