Treatment Adherence and Outcomes of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV Positive Patients

Objective: To describe the treatment outcomes in terms of adherence, outcomes and side effects of antiretroviral (ARV) agents. Study Design: An observational study. Place and Duration,of Study: Teaching Hospital of Khyber Medical University, Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat, from February 2007 to December 2012. Methodology: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients, taking 1st line ARV agents for at least 6 months were included. Adherence was calculated by self report on asking the number of doses missed in last 30 days. ARVs were provided on monthly basis. Adherence data was noted over a period of 6 months. ARVs outcomes were recorded in the form of adherence, CD4 count, functional status of the patient, change in weight, further transmission of the disease, number of hospital admissions and deaths. Adverse Drug Reactions (ARDs) to ARVs were assessed clinically and by laboratory markers. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for numerical variables while frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical variables. Results: Total number of patients included in this study were 107. Out of them, 66.4% were males and 33.6% were females. The mean age was 39.9 +/- 13.80 years. Patients taking AZT/3TC/NVP, AZT/3TC/EFZ, D4T/3TC/NVP, D4T/3TC/EFZ, TNF/3TC/NVP or EFZ were 49.5%, 22.4%, 10.3%, 4.7% and 13% respectively. Most adverse affects were observed in 10 days to 90 days of initiation of therapy. Rash was observed in 71(66.4%) patients, anaemia in 4 (3.7%) patients while only one patient (0.93%) had nausea / vomiting. Thirty (28%) patients reported no side effects. Out of 107 patients, 98 (91.5%) were alive whereas 9 (8.4%) died at the end of the study period. Twelve patients had one hospital admission (11.21%) whereas 9 (8.4%) patients had two admissions during the study period. The first mean CD4 was 325.27 cells /mcL whereas mean last CD4 count was 389.86 cells/mcL. Conclusion: ARVs have very satisfactory outcomes in HIV/AIDS patients, provided they are started at proper stage of the disease. Treatment outcomes in this study are comparable with reported previously in developed countries.