title: Food supplementation as an incentive to improve pre-antiretroviral therapy clinic adherence in HIV-positive children--experience from eastern India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the importance of food supplementation as incentive in improving preantiretroviral therapy (pre-ART) adherence, and second its impact on health of HIV-infected children by a clinic-based observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  HIV-seropositive children aged between 2 and 12 years were followed-up sequentially for 2 years without and with food supplementation, respectively, with monitoring of disease parameters. The outcome morbidity parameters were compared and correlated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Study showed significant improvement in clinic adherence (r = 0.165, p = 0.027) along with increased mean clinic visit (6.65 ± 1.43 vs. 8.01 ± 1.52, p = 0.000) and mean CD4 count (p = 0.028) with incentive. Provision of incentive correlated well (Pearson's r = 0.345) with number of visits which in turn had strong correlation with weight gain (r = 0.548), episodes of AIDS-defining illnesses (r = -0.412), hospitalization (r = -0.279).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Food incentive could enhance pre-ART phase clinic adherence that decreases disease-related morbidities, setting the stage for improved treatment and care of seropositive children in future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Apex HIV clinic, Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata-700073, India. dr.chanchalkundu@gmail.com
authors.forename: Chanchal Kumar
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Kundu
authors.forename: Moumita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samanta
authors.forename: Mihir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Subhasish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.forename: Sukanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents