Patterns of adherence to scheduling and dietary instructions among patients on antiretroviral therapy in Pretoria, South Africa.

Background: Adherence in antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the extent to which the HIV-infected person's behavior corresponds to the prescribed medical advice in terms of using antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Adherence includes acts such as following instructions regarding dietary or fluid restrictions and taking medications at the prescribed time. This study aimed to determine the extent to which persons on ART followed the scheduling and dietary instructions of their ARV drugs.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study among 232 adult HIV-infected persons on ART using the AIDS Clinical Trials Group questionnaire.

Results: Based on self-reported adherence, 89.6% (208/232) of the participants reported complete adherence with regards to taking their prescribed medications. The specific dosing schedule of their ARV drugs was strictly followed by 47.4% (110/232) of the participants. Of the 146 patients with specific dietary instructions on how to take their ARVs, only 43.1% (63/146) followed them all of the time, 10.9% (16/146) never followed these instructions and 45.8% (67/146) partially followed these instructions. Participants who were unemployed were twice more likely to adhere to ART dosing schedules compared to others (OR=1.75; CI: 1.03-2.96; p=0.05).

Conclusions: Participants in this study were adherent to taking prescribed medications only. They were found to be non-adherent to instructions regarding dietary or fluid restrictions and medication prescription time.