Antiretroviral therapies from the patient's perspective.
Thirty-seven patients receiving antiretroviral therapy were interviewed in depth in preparation for a quantitative study of patients' perceptions of their treatment. Patients described three types of difficulty with treatment: conflict between treatment recommendations and daily life, side effects (immediate and long term) and fear that treatment would reveal their seropositivity. These problems interfered with treatment adherence which was otherwise generally good. The problems are rarely evoked during medical consultations: certain patients think they are not pertinent, and physicians give priority to clinical and laboratory examinations. Training must be carried out in order to permit physicians to raise all the factors (including psychosocial factors) that are liable to reduce the quality of treatment adherence.
Meystre-Agustoni
G
G
Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive, 17 rue du Bugnon, CH-1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. giovanna.meystre@inst.hospvd.ch
Dubois-Arber
F
F
Cochand
P
P
Telenti
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003219:Confidentiality; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents