Background: Adverse effects (AEs) have been reported with all antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications, and it was among the most common cause for switching or terminating therapy and drug non-adherence. Even though AEs of ART medications are common and to be expected, little study has been conducted on the understanding of patients on the AEs. Therefore, this study aimed to assess patients' knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward ART medications' AEs and associated factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design was applied using an interviewer-administered questionnaire from June to September 2021 on human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients on follow-up at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. Data was gathered, cleaned, and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the independent variable and patients' knowledge and attitude about the AEs of ART medication. A p-value of 0.05 was used to determine the statistical significance.
Results: About 230 people were enrolled in this study, with 51.3% of them female. Study participants had a mean age of 36 years (standard deviation = 14.19). Of 230 participants, 67.8% had received advice on the AEs of ART medications. Poor knowledge and attitude were observed among 47.8 and 51.3% of respondents, respectively. Prior AEs experience, lack of experiencing opportunistic infection, and lack of counseling about ART medications' AEs were associated with poor knowledge, whereas female gender and a lack of counseling regarding ART medications' AEs were associated with a negative attitude (p < 0.05). Even though most patients (81.7%) report AEs of the medication to professionals, a significant number of patients involved in malpractices such as taking other drugs to treat AEs (24.3%), not prepared to do anything (27.1%), change the suspected drug (24.3%), reduce the dose (18.7%), and use local herbal medicines to treat suspected AEs (20.2%).
Conclusion: Overall, the study participants had poor knowledge, lack of positive attitudes, and non-adherence to the actual recommended practice toward AEs of ART medications. Lack of comorbidity, having prior AEs experience, and lack of counseling regarding ART medication AEs were associated with poor knowledge. Female gender and a lack of counseling on the AEs of ART medications were associated with a negative attitude.
Keywords: ART medication; HIV/AIDS; adverse effects; attitudes; knowledge; practice.
HIV/AIDS patients’ knowledge, attitude, and practice toward anti-retroviral therapy medications’ adverse effects and associated factors in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital Patients are expected to be aware of the adverse effects (AEs) associated with their medication and its management. AEs are common with antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications. It is among the most common causes for patients to lose faith in the safety of medicines, resulting in poor adherence or complete discontinuation of life-prolonging medications. Understanding the level of awareness about AEs of ART medication among consumer is important to fill this knowledge gap and improve medication adherence and quality of life. The study evaluates human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward AEs of ART medications and associated factors. The authors used a cross-sectional study design using an interviewer-administered questionnaire to measure KAP toward AEs of ART medication among HIV/AIDS patients on follow-up at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Ethiopia. TASH is the largest teaching and referral specialized hospital in Ethiopia. About 230 of 270 distributed questionnaires were completed, with the response rate of 85%. Among the 230 participants, 68% had received advice on the AEs of ART medications, 82% knew that all medicines had some sort of AEs, 53% knew the AEs of their medications, and 60% knew what to do if they suspected AEs, which was primarily informing their healthcare provider (82%). About 48 and 51% of respondents had poor knowledge and attitudes about the AEs of ART medications, respectively. Previous AEs experience, lack of experiencing opportunistic infection, and lack of counseling about ART medications’ AEs were associated with poor knowledge, whereas female gender and lack of counseling were associated with negative attitude. Our findings indicated that the study participants had low knowledge, negative attitudes and low adherence to recommended practice toward AEs of ART medications. Lack of counseling regarding the AEs of ART medications was associated with the poor knowledge and poor attitude toward ART medication AEs.
© The Author(s), 2023.