ABSTRACT
The present study examines relationships between pain, mental health symptoms, and medication adherence in adult smokers living with HIV. Sixty-eight adult HIV-positive smokers taking antiretroviral medication completed a survey measuring medication adherence, mental health symptoms, and pain. The presence of pain, OR = 3.81, 95% CI (1.19, 12.14), higher pain severity, OR = 1.22, 95% CI (1.05, 1.41), and higher anxiety, OR = 1.09, 95% CI (1.03, 1.14) were associated with inferior medication adherence (MMAS-8 score <6). Anxiety mediated the relationships between presence of pain (ab = .56, BCa CI (0.05, 1.61)) and pain severity (ab = .09, BCa CI (0.01, 0.24)) and medication adherence. The results of this study suggest that pain and anxiety are factors that significantly contribute to medication nonadherence and thus are important areas of assessment by clinicians treating adult smokers living with HIV.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Alyssa Burns, Channah Esan, Brittlyn Katz Pearlman, Christine Lee, and Kate Segal for their help with data collection. The authors also thank Channah Esan for conducting literature searches. The Morisky Widget, MMAS-8, and MMAS-4 are protected by US and International Trademark and Copyright laws and applicable trade secrets statutes. Permission for use is required. A license agreement is available from: Donald E. Morisky, 294 Lindura Court, Las Vegas, NV 89138-4632; USA; [email protected].
Disclosure statement
Drs. Willoughby, Weinberger and Shuter have no disclosures or conflicts of interest to report. Dr. Seng is a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Click Therapeutics.