Magnitude and determinants of nonadherence and nonreadiness to highly active antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV/AIDS in Northwest Ethiopia: a cross - sectional study | Tessema et al. AIDS Research and Therapy 2010 7 2 http content 7 1 2 AIDS RESEARCH AND THERAPY RESEARCH Open Access Magnitude and determinants of nonadherence and nonreadiness to highly active antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV AIDS in Northwest Ethiopia a cross - sectional study Belay Tessema1 5 6 Fantahun Biadglegne2 Andargachew Mulu3 Assefa Getachew4 Frank Emmrich5 7 Ulrich Sack5 7 Abstract Background Adequate antiretroviral drug potency is essential for obtaining therapeutic benefit however the behavioral aspects of proper adherence and readiness to medication often determine therapeutic outcome. Therefore this study aimed to assess the level and determinants of nonadherence and nonreadiness to highly active antiretroviral therapy HAART among people living with HIV AIDS PLWHA at Gondar University Teaching Hospital and Felege Hiwot Hospital in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and September 2008 using structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. All consecutive adult outpatients who were receiving antiretroviral treatment for at least three months seen at both hospitals during the study period and able to give informed consent were included in the study. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with nonadherence and nonreadiness. Results A total of 504 study subjects were included in this study. The prevalence rates of nonadherence and nonreadiness to HAART were 87 and 70 respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that medication adverse effects nonreadiness to HAART contact with psychiatric care service and having no goal had statistically significant association with nonadherence. Moreover unwillingness to disclose HIV status was significantly associated with nonreadiness to HAART. Conclusions In this study the level of nonadherence and nonreadiness to HAART seems to be encouraging. Several factors .
