Navarro, R;
Paredes, JL;
Echevarria, J;
González-Lagos, E;
Graña, A;
Mejía, F;
Otero, L;
(2021)
HIV and antiretroviral treatment knowledge gaps and psychosocial burden among persons living with HIV in Lima, Peru.
PLoS One
, 16
(8)
, Article e0256289. 10.1371/journal.pone.0256289.
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Abstract
This study aims to describe knowledge on HIV and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and psychosocial factors among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Lima, Perú, to explore characteristics associated to this knowledge, and determine its impact on sustained viral suppression. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 171 PLWH at the largest referral health care center in Lima. The psychosocial factors measured were depression, risk of alcoholism, use of illegal drugs and disclosure. A participant had "poor knowledge" when less than 80% of replies were correct. Sustained viral suppression was defined as two consecutive viral loads under 50 copies/mL. A total of 49% and 43% had poor HIV and ARV knowledge respectively; 48% of the study population screened positive for depression and 27% reported feeling unsupported by the person they disclosed to. The largest gaps in HIV and ARV knowledge were among 98 (57%) that did not recognize that HIV increased the risk of cancer and among 57 (33%) participants that did not disagree with the statement that taking a double dose of ARV if they missed one. Moderate depression was significantly associated to poor HIV and ARV knowledge. Non-disclosure and being on ARVs for less than 6 months were associated with not achieving sustained viral suppression. Our findings highlight important HIV and ARV knowledge gaps of PLWH and a high burden of psychosocial problems, especially of depression, among PLWH in Lima, Peru. Increasing knowledge and addressing depression and disclosure could improve care of PLWH.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | HIV and antiretroviral treatment knowledge gaps and psychosocial burden among persons living with HIV in Lima, Peru |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0256289 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256289 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 Navarro et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10137738 |
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