title: Antiretroviral therapy in the lives of women of colour with HIV.
abstract: Non-adherence to antiretroviral medication is associated with adverse patient outcomes. Considerable research and clinical work has focused on issues surrounding patient compliance to prescribed regimens. Few studies have explored the essence of antiretroviral medications in the lives of women of colour with HIV. A qualitative study of HIV-infected women of colour was undertaken in response to the question: What is the role of antiretroviral medication in your life? Taped interviews were conducted with graduate psychology students and commercially transcribed. Transcriptions were analyzed by Spiegelberg's category-cluster-theme process by four different reviewers. Three themes were distilled: trust/mistrust, approach/avoidance motivation and 'constantly tethered'. Strategies designed to increase medication adherence may need to consider these basic themes in order to be successful.
authors.affiliation: Ryan White Title IV Family Centered HIV Clinic, Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, OH 43614, USA. alocher@meduohio.edu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wayson Locher
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pargament
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duggan
mesh_terms: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012880:Skin Pigmentation
chemical_list: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents