Magnitude and associated factors of anti-retroviral therapy adherence among children attending HIV care and treatment clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Authors: Mussa Fatima M. , Massawe Higgins P. , Bhalloo Hussein , Moledina Sibtain , Assenga Evelyne 
Published: September 2022

Introduction

The HIV pandemic continues to contribute significantly towards childhood mortality and morbidity. The up-scaling of the Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) access has seen more children surviving and sanctions great effort be made on ensuring adherence. Adherence is a dynamic process that changes over time and is determined by variable factors. This necessitates the urgency to conduct studies to determine the potential factors affecting adherence in our setting and therefore achieve the 90-90-90 goal of sustainable viral suppression.

Objectives

To assess the magnitude and associated factors of ART adherence among children (1–14 years) attending HIV care and treatment clinics during the months of July to November 2018 in Dar es Salaam.

Methods

A cross-sectional clinic-based study, conducted in three selected HIV care and treatment clinics in urban Dar es Salaam; Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Temeke Regional Referral Hospital (TRRH), Infectious Disease Centre- DarDar Paediatric Program (IDC-DPP) HIV clinics during the months of July to November 2018. HIV-infected children aged 1–14 years who had been on treatment for at least six months were consecutively enrolled until the sample size was achieved. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Four-day self-report, one-month self-recall report and missed clinic appointments were used to assess adherence. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe categorical data. The odds ratio was used to analyse the possible factors affecting ART adherence Logistic regression models were used to determine the factors associated with ART adherence. Analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20.0 and p-value <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

333 participants were recruited. The overall good adherence (≥95%) was approximated to be 60% (CI-54.3–65.1) when subjected to all three measures. On multivariable logistic regression, factors associated with higher odds of poor adherence were found to be caregivers aged 17–25 years [AOR = 3.5, 95%CI-(1.5–8.4)], children having an inter-current illness [AOR = 10.8, 95%CI-(2.3–50.4)], disbelief in ART effectiveness [AOR = 5.495; 95%CI-(1.669–18.182)] and advanced clinical stage [AOR = 1.972; 95% CI-(1.119–3.484)]. The major reasons reported by caregivers for missing medications included forgetfulness (41%), high pill burden (21%), busy schedule (11%) and long waiting hours at the clinic (9%).

Conclusion and recommendations

In the urban setting of Dar es Salaam, ART adherence among children was found to be relatively low when combined adherence measures were used. Factors associated with poor ART adherence found were younger aged caregivers, and child intercurrent illness, while factors conferring good adherence were belief in ART effectiveness and lower HIV clinical stage. More attention and support should be given to younger aged caregivers, children with concomitant illness and advanced HIV clinical stages. Educating caregivers on ART effectiveness may also aid in improving adherence.