Introduction: National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has expanded the reach of anti retroviral therapy (ART) to combat the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in India which has one of the largest populations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the world. One of the major challenges related to ART is a lifelong commitment by patients to adhere diligently to daily medication dosing schedules and scheduled visits to the ART center. Hence, the current study is carried out to assess the drug adherence rate and loss to follow-up (LFU) among PLWHA attending ART centre of a tertiary care hospital in Western India.
Materials and methods: The current cross-sectional study was carried out using medical records of all patients registered at ART Center, Shree Sayaji General Hospital, Vadodara after taking Ethical Clearance from Local IRB. LFU was classified according to NACO guidelines. Data were collected using a standardized data extraction form as per NACO treatment card. Data entry and analysis were performed using Epi Info software.
Results: Of 755 PLWHA registered at ART center, 534 (70.7%) subjects were alive on ART, 61 (8%) were transferred out, 68 (9%) died, and 92 (17%) were LFU. Nearly, 57% PLWHA have drug adherence rate of more than 95%. Education status of the participant showed independent and significant association with drug adherence.
Conclusion: This study showed 57.3% were adherent to ART among PLWHA, whereas 17.22% were lost to follow-up. Hence, there is a need to emphasize on increasing drug adherence rate and on outreach activities to combat LFU.
Keywords: ART; drug adherence rate; loss to follow-up; people living with HIV/AIDS.