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Intimate Partner Violence Is A Barrier To Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Hiv - Positive Women: Evidence From Government Facilities In Kenya, Bornice C. Biomndo, Alexander Bergmann, Nils Lahmann, Lukoye Atwoli

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Introduction: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is linked to low engagement with HIV management services and adverse clinical outcomes, including poor ART adherence. In sub-Saharan Africa, studies on pregnant/postpartum women and transactional sex workers have produced divergent evidence regarding IPV’s association with poor ART adherence. We investigate this association among a broad group of women.

Methods: We sampled 408 HIV-positive women receiving free ART from different types of HIV clinics at government health facilities, assessing for IPV exposure by a current partner, ART adherence rate, and other factors that affect ART adherence (e.g. education, disclosure). ART adherence rates were measured using …

Alcohol Use And Immune Reconstitution Among Hiv-Infected Patients On Antiretroviral Therapy In Nairobi, Kenya, Anthony Cagle, Christine Mcgrath, Barbra A. Richardson, Dennis Donovan, Sameh Sakr, Nelly Yatich, Richard Ngomoa, Agnes Chepngeno Langat, Grace John-Stewart, Michael Chung

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Studies on the effects of alcohol use on HIV disease progression have been contradictory, with at least one study finding a positive effect of low alcohol consumption on CD4 count. In addition, most such studies have taken place in the developed West. We investigated the association between alcohol use and immune reconstitution through CD4 count response among HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at an urban sub-Saharan African clinic. This was a retrospective cohort study of treatment-naïve HIV-infected adults initiating ART in Nairobi, Kenya and followed for 12 months between January 2009 and December 2012. At enrollment, a standardized questionnaire …

Interventions To Promote Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapy In Africa: A Network Meta-Analysis, Edward J. Mills, Richard Lester, Kristian Thorlund, Maria Lorenzi, Katherine Muldoon, Steve Kanters, Sebastian Linnemayr, Robert Gross, Yvette Calderon, K Rivet Amico, Harsha Thirumurthy, Cynthia Pearson, Robert H. Remien, Lawrence Mbuagbaw, Lehana Thabane, Michael Chung, Ira B. Wilson, Albert Liu, Olalekan A. Uthman, Jane Simoni, David Bangsberg, Sanni Yaya, Till Bärnighausen, Nathan Ford, Jean B. Nachega

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is necessary for the improvement of the health of patients and for public health. We sought to determine the comparative effectiveness of different interventions for improving ART adherence in HIV-infected people living in Africa.

Methods: We searched for randomised trials of interventions to promote antiretroviral adherence within adults in Africa. We searched AMED, CINAHL, Embase, Medline (via PubMed), and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to Oct 31, 2014, with the terms “HIV”, “ART”, “adherence”, and “Africa”. We created a network of the interventions by pooling the published and individual patients' data for comparable treatments and comparing …