scholarly journals HIV Infection in the Elderly: Arising Challenges

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonaventura C. T. Mpondo

Globally there is an increase in the number of people living with HIV at an advanced age (50 years and above). This is mainly due to prolonged survival following the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Living with HIV at an advanced age has been shown to be associated with a number of challenges, both clinical and immunological. This minireview aims at discussing the challenges encountered by elderly HIV-infected patients.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abere Woretaw Azagew ◽  
Chilot Kassa Mekonnen ◽  
Abebaw Jember Ferede ◽  
Kassahun Gebeyehu Yazew ◽  
Zewdu Baye Tezera

Abstract Background: Adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is a public health challenge worldwide. Non-adherence to HAART leads to treatment, immunologic, and virological failure. Despite different interventions made, adherence to HAART among adult people living with HIV (PLWHIV) is still inconsistent across studies, and the effect of serostatus disclosure on adherence to HAART was not studied in Ethiopia. Therefore, the study is aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of adherence to HAART and its relationship with serostatus disclosure among adult PLWHIV in Ethiopia.Methods: We searched 3247 original articles, both published and unpublished on Ethiopia dated from January 2016 to November 2019 by using different search engines. Data were extracted using Microsoft excel. New Castle Ottawa Scale quality assessment tool was used. STATA software version 11 was used for analysis. A random-effects model for meta-analysis was computed. Cochran Q statistics and I2 were used to estimate heterogeneity. Egger’s and Begg’s test was used to assess the publication bias.Results: A total of fifteen articles for systematic review and four articles for meta-analysis were used. The pooled prevalence of adherence to HAART is found to be 81.19% (80.1, 82.3). In the subgroup analysis, the pooled prevalence of adherence to HAART was 79.82% (73.19, 86.45) in the Oromia region, 82.51 %( 73.14, 91.87) in the Amhara region, and 72.7% (63.78, 81.61) in the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). The serostatus disclosure improves adherence to HAART by nearly three times compared to non-serostatus disclosed PLWHIV (AOR=2.99, 95 %CI: 1.88, 4.77).Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of adherence to HAART among adult PLWHIV in Ethiopia was found to be low compared to WHO antiretroviral treatment recommendations. Having serostatus disclosure improved adherence to HAART.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
David Ufuoma Adje ◽  
Felicia Esemekiphorar Williams ◽  
Chukwuka Nicholas Bezugbe ◽  
Dauda Audi Dangiwa

Background:       Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is critical in achieving treatment goals, avoiding antimicrobial resistance, preventing treatment failure and improving the patient’s quality of life. Objectives: To assess the knowledge of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and adherence to antiretroviral (ARVs) medicines amongst People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) accessing care in two Nigerian Military HIV/AIDS Treatment sites. Methods: Four hundred patients on HAART who visited the study sites during the study period were recruited for the study using systematic random sampling method. A semi-structured, pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain demographic details. Patients’ knowledge of HIV was assessed using an 8-item questionnaire while adherence was measured using the Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire (SMAQ). Results: The predominant age group was 31-40 years (46.4%). There were more females (69%) than males (31%). Only 45.5% answered knowledge questions correctly. The adherence level in this study was 64.0%. The major reasons cited for non-adherence included being away from home (23.6%), forgetfulness (17.1%), busy schedule (14%), need to conceal medication (12.7%) and feeling better (11.6%). Conclusion: Patients’ knowledge of ART and adherence to ARVs medicines were sub-optimal. Appropriate strategies to improve patients’ knowledge of ART and adherence to ARVs are recommended.


2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (5) ◽  
pp. 914-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. P. M. ALBUQUERQUE ◽  
D. N. ALVES ◽  
C. C. BRESANI SALVI ◽  
J. D. L. BATISTA ◽  
R. A. A. XIMENES ◽  
...  

SUMMARYWe conducted a survival analysis with competing risks to estimate the mortality rate and predictive factors for immunodeficiency-related death in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) in northeast Brazil. A cohort with 2372 PLWH was enrolled between July 2007 and June 2010 and monitored until 31 December 2012 at two healthcare centres. The event of interest was immunodeficiency-related death, which was defined based on the Coding Causes of Death in HIV Protocol (CoDe). The predictor variables were: sociodemographic characteristics, illicit drugs, tobacco, alcohol, nutritional status, antiretroviral therapy, anaemia and CD4 cell count at baseline; and treatment or chemoprophylaxis for tuberculosis (TB) during follow-up. We used Fine & Gray's model for the survival analyses with competing risks, since we had regarded immunodeficiency-unrelated deaths as a competing event, and we estimated the adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratios (SHRs). In 10 012·6 person-years of observation there were 3·1 deaths/100 person-years (2·3 immunodeficiency-related and 0·8 immunodeficiency-unrelated). TB (SHR 4·01), anaemia (SHR 3·58), CD4 <200 cells/mm3(SHR 3·33) and being unemployed (SHR 1·56) were risk factors for immunodeficiency-related death. This study discloses a 13% coverage by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in our state and adds that anaemia at baseline or the incidence of TB may increase the specific risk of dying from HIV-immunodeficiency, regardless of HAART and CD4.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document