Abstract:

Background: HIV continues to take a tremendous toll on human health, with 37 million people infected and 1.2 million deaths worldwide in 2014. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV epidemic has the most devastating, more than 25 million people are HIV infected, about 70 percent of the global total. Establishing and maintaining adherence to medication is a difficult goal for an individual with chronic illness even when treatment regime is sample and the patient is clearly symptomatic.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and possible factors which constrain or facilitate adherence to ART among AIDS patients recruited during the test and treat strategy and suggest possible ways to improve.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2018 at Dodoma Urban districts hospitals’ HIV care and treatment clinics. Simple self-administered questionnaires were sent to HIV patients visiting the Care and treatment centers.

Results: 60% of the respondents were able to obtain optimal adherence of the score >95% while the remaining 40% had poor adherence. Factors that constrain adherence were negative attitude and poor knowledge to ARVs, alcohol use, other comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Factors such demographic data, distance and time spent, side effects, loss of income and others were not significantly associated with ARVs adherence rates.

Conclusion: Despite barriers to ARV adherence, the overall self-reported adherence among recruited persons who were receiving ARV drugs is areas surveyed is encouraging with the overall adherence of 60%. And most respondents simply forget to take medication despite intensive counselling provided at the health facility.