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AIDS Care
Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
Volume 35, 2023 - Issue 5
211
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Research Article

Living with HIV during COVID-19: knowledge and worry about COVID-19, adherence to COVID-19-related precautions, and HIV health outcomes

ORCID Icon, , , &
Pages 639-642 | Received 02 Apr 2022, Accepted 27 Oct 2022, Published online: 26 Nov 2022
 

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has been profound impacts on mental and physical health of individuals with chronic diseases. Thus, it is important to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV. We aimed to assess the association between COVID-19-related knowledge and worry, HIV-related health practices and outcomes, and adherence to precautions related to COVID-19, and possible associations of these factors with HIV treatment outcomes (ART adherence and viral load). A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2020 and February 2021 among 291 PLWH at two large university hospital HIV clinics in Izmir, Turkey. Additionally, the most recent HIV-RNA load, CD4 count was recorded using medical records. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine predictors of self-reported adherence to COVID-19-related precautions, ART adherence and undetectable viral load. COVID-19-related worry, COVID-19-related knowledge, and ART adherence were significant predictors of adherence to COVID-19-related precautions. Furthermore, adherence to COVID-19-related precautions was a significant predictor of both ART adherence and undetectable viral load. Findings provide a unique aspect of the interrelations of COVID and living with HIV. Since health behaviors and outcomes for COVID-19 and HIV seem to be interrelated, treatment practices and interventions that address these simultaneously may enhance their efficacy.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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