Therapy Duration, Treatment Fatigue from Antiretrovirals, and Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in People Living with HIV: A Cross-Sectional Study

The prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Indonesia is increasing. The primary management of people living with HIV is the provision of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for a lifetime. The success of ARV therapy is mainly influenced by the adherence to the therapy. Objective — to identify factors influencing adherence to ARV therapy. Materials and methods. This study used a cross-sectional analytical design. The sample was determined using a purposive sampling technique and a total of 289 respondents were obtained. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire. Univariate analysis used frequency distribution to describe the percentage. Bivariate logistic regression analysis (adjusted OR and 95 % confidence interval (CI)) and multivariate analysis used Multiple logistic regression with adjusted OR, 95 % CI, and a significance p-value < 0.05. Results and discussion. The results of the study showed that the factors influencing adherence to ARV therapy were knowledge with a p-value < 0.001 (95 % CI 7.15—8.87), attitude with a p-value < 0.001 (95 % CI 2.05—4.11), treatment fatigue in taking ARVs with a p-value = 0.004 (95 % CI 1.59—4.41), and therapy duration with a p-value = 0.001 (1.88—4.21). Conclusions. Knowledge, attitude, treatment fatigue in taking ARVs, and therapy duration are factors influencing adherence to ARV therapy. Thus, it is important to have sustainable programmes or socialisations to increase public awareness about the support needed by people living with HIV/AIDS to comply with ARV therapy.