Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management
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Browsing Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management by Subject "Adherence to treatment -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal"
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- ItemInvestigating adherence for people living with HIV and AIDS on ART in Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Dlomo, Nondumiso; Eva, Gary; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology. Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management.ENGLISH SUMMARY: The study sought to investigate adherence for people living with HIV who are on ART. Since high levels of adherence of more than 95% are required to achieve the durable suppression of the viral load, the researcher finds it very important to find out whether the people are doing what is expected of them. While the rollout of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy has brought much excitement and hope to both patients and practitioners in South Africa, it has also brought many new questions and challenges, including adherence. Adherence is therefore very crucial to the success of ART. The research sought to investigate adherence in resource-poor settings. The research was conducted on patients attending Ithembalabantu clinic in Umlazi, Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Respondents were recruited as they come to the clinic to collect their medication. Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative research was used to collect data in the study. The quantitative data involved 90 questionnaires. The qualitative data involved 15 semi structured interviews. The results indicated that adherence to ART is very high and satisfactory among the sample population with 79% who never skipped or missed their medication and 64% who indicated that they followed their specific schedule all the time; and 88% of the respondents were aware of the dangers of sleeping without a condom more especially while on ART. The results showed that there is a very high level of condom usage among the sample population. The respondents from the in-depth interviews indicated that participants are not affected by the factors that lead to poor adherence. The only problem that needs urgent attention is the importance of the knowledge of viral load and CD4 count. The participants seemed to be confused by the two and most of them did not know why they are measured.