Prevalence and Determinants of Medication Adherence among Patients with HIV/AIDS in Southern Vietnam

Phuong M Nguyen; Anh N Thach; Xuan D Pham; Anh N Lam; Thao N P Nguyen; Chu X Duong; Lam V Nguyen; Thao H Nguyen; Suol T Pham; Katja Taxis; Thang Nguyen

doi:10.3390/idr13010014

Prevalence and Determinants of Medication Adherence among Patients with HIV/AIDS in Southern Vietnam

Infect Dis Rep. 2021 Feb 5;13(1):126-135. doi: 10.3390/idr13010014.

Authors

Phuong M Nguyen¹, Anh N Thach², Xuan D Pham³, Anh N Lam⁴, Thao N P Nguyen⁵, Chu X Duong⁵, Lam V Nguyen⁶, Thao H Nguyen⁷, Suol T Pham⁵, Katja Taxis⁸, Thang Nguyen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho 900000, Vietnam.
² Soc Trang Center for Disease Control, Soc Trang 96000, Vietnam.
³ Department of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan 320317, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho 900000, Vietnam.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho 900000, Vietnam.
⁶ Department of Anatomy, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho 900000, Vietnam.
⁷ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh 710000, Vietnam.
⁸ Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and determinants of medication adherence among patients with HIV/AIDS in southern Vietnam.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a hospital in southern Vietnam from June to December 2019 on patients who began antiretroviral therapy (ART) for at least 6 months. Using a designed questionnaire, patients were considered adherent if they took correct medicines with right doses, on time and properly with food and beverage and had follow-up visits as scheduled. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify determinants of adherence.

Key findings: A total of 350 patients (from 861 medical records) were eligible for the study. The majority of patients were male (62.9%), and the dominant age group (≥35 years old) accounted for 53.7% of patients. Sexual intercourse was the primary route of transmission of HIV (95.1%). The proportions of participants who took the correct medicine and at a proper dose were 98.3% and 86.3%, respectively. In total, 94.9% of participants took medicine appropriately in combination with food and beverage, and 75.7% of participants were strictly adherent to ART. The factors marital status (odds ratio (OR) = 2.54; 95%CI = 1.51-4.28), being away from home (OR = 1.7; 95%CI = 1.03-2.78), substance abuse (OR = 2.7; 95%CI = 1.44-5.05), general knowledge about ART (OR = 2.75; 95%CI = 1.67-4.53), stopping medication after improvement (OR = 4.16; 95%CI = 2.29-7.56) and self-assessment of therapy adherence (OR = 9.83; 95%CI = 5.44-17.77) were significantly associated with patients' adherence.

Conclusions: Three-quarters of patients were adherent to ART. Researchers should consider these determinants of adherence in developing interventions in further studies.

Keywords: Vietnam; acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); antiretroviral therapy (ART); human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); medication adherence.