Barriers to HAART Adherence Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Adolescents

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the barriers to highly active antiretrovial therapy (HAART) adherence among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected adolescents and to explore the association of barriers and nonadherence. Design Structured interviews were conducted to determine the barriers associated with adherence; principal component factor analysis was performed on scores of the 19 barrier variables. Setting Human immunodeficiency virus–infected adolescents were recruited from 13 US cities into the REACH (Reaching for Excellence in Adolescent Care and Health) Project, the first large-scale disease progression study of HIV-positive adolescents infected through sexual behavior or injection drug use. Patients Human immunodeficiency virus–infected adolescents in the REACH cohort who were prescribed HAART (N = 114) were included in the analyses. Main Outcome Measures The main outcome measures were self-report of adherence and barriers to adherence and viral load (HIV-1 RNA level in plasma). Results Viral load was significantly associated with self-report of adherence to HAART (P= .02). Only 28.3% of adolescents reported taking all of their prescribed antiretroviral medications in the previous month. Factor analysis of the barriers to adherence indicates there are 2 factors accounting for the largest proportion of the variance: (1) medication-related adverse effects (both physical and psychological) and (2) complications in day-to-day routines. Conclusions Adherence was tied closely with daily routine, which supports the assumption that working closely with adolescents to improve their organizational skills may be necessary to improve adherence. Patient-level intervention, provider-level intervention, and health care system modification may all be necessary to improve HIV-infected adolescents' adherence to HAART.