Longitudinal trajectories of antiretroviral treatment adherence and associations with durable viral suppression among adolescents living with HIV in South Africa
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Compared with other age groups, adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) are estimated to have lower levels of adherence to antiretroviral treatment. Despite this, we lack evidence on adolescents' adherence patterns over time to inform the customization of intervention strategies. SETTING: Eastern Cape province, South Africa. METHODS: We analyzed data from a cohort of ALHIV (N = 1046, aged 10-19 years at baseline) recruited from 53 public health facilities. The cohort comprised 3 waves of data collected between 2014 and 2018 and routine viral load data from the National Institute for Communicable Disease data warehouse (2014-2019). Durable viral suppression was defined as having suppressed viral load (<1000 copies/mL) at ≥2 consecutive study waves. Group-based multitrajectory model was used to identify adherence trajectories using 5 indicators of self-reported adherence. Logistic regression modeling evaluated the associations between adherence trajectories and durable viral suppression. RESULTS: Overall, 933 ALHIV (89.2%) completed all 3 study waves (55.1% female, mean age: 13.6 years at baseline). Four adherence trajectories were identified, namely, "consistent adherence" (49.8%), "low start and increasing" (20.8%), "gradually decreasing" (23.5%), and "low and decreasing" (5.9%). Adolescents experiencing inconsistent adherence trajectories were more likely to be older, live in rural areas, and have sexually acquired HIV. Compared with the consistent adherence trajectory, the odds of durable viral suppression were lower among adolescents in the low start and increasing (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.95), gradually decreasing (aOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.59), and the low and decreasing adherence (aOR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.62) trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to antiretroviral treatment remains a challenge among ALHIV in South Africa. Identifying adolescents at risk of nonadherence, based on their adherence trajectories may inform the tailoring of adolescent-friendly support strategies.
Date Issued
2024-06-01
Date Acceptance
2024-02-20
Citation
JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 2024, 96 (2), pp.171-179
ISSN
1525-4135
Publisher
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Start Page
171
End Page
179
Journal / Book Title
JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
Volume
96
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38771754
Subjects
Adolescent
Anti-HIV Agents
Child
Female
HIV Infections
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medication Adherence
South Africa
Viral Load
Young Adult
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2024-06-01