title: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy and its determinants in children with HIV infection - Experience from Paediatric Centre of Excellence in HIV Care in North India.
abstract: The objective of this study is to assess adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-infected children using the pill count method, and determine factors leading to adherence failure. Records of 106 children living with HIV (CLHIV) age <15 years and on ART for >6 months were reviewed. Average adherence to ART by pill count method over preceding six months was calculated and re-assessed by 3-day recall method. The caregivers of 105 children and one child himself were interviewed about the problems encountered while giving ART. Median age of enrolled children was 104 (inter-quartile range [IQR] 77.3-133.8) months. Median duration of ART was 25 (IQR 16-35) months. The desired adherence level of >95% during six months of review assessed by pill count was achieved in 95.3% children. The 3-day recall method yielded >95% adherence in 99% children (p ≤ .001). Caregivers of 59 children (56.2%) reported multiple problems while administering drugs. In most instances, problems encountered were related to family/caregivers, the commonest being multiple caregivers, job constraints and death/illness in the family. In conclusion, we found a very high level of adherence to ART in CLHIV. Poor adherence was mainly associated with issues related to the family/caregivers.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics , Lady Hardinge Medical College , Delhi , India.
authors.forename: Anju
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seth
authors.forename: Rohini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Jagdish
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.forename: Anu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maheshwari
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Satinder
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aneja
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016903:Drug Monitoring
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents
keywords: adherence; antiretroviral therapy; children