Treatment adherence among mothers living with HIV in the US: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this review was to understand research about treatment adherence among mothers in the US who are living with HIV. Treatment adherence included Antiretroviral Therapy and attending medical care appointments. A scoping review was conducted, and five peer-reviewed databases were searched with predetermined search terms for the period of 2006–2016. Thirty-five articles were identified for the review, including (n = 17) quantitative studies, (n = 6) qualitative studies, (n = 4) reviews and (n = 8) conceptual/theoretical articles. The most frequently identified theme among the articles was prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Authors disagreed about whether parenting children was a burden or a source of strength for the affected women. Implications identified for practice included a more longitudinal approach to care for mothers, rather than focusing narrowly on prevention of transmission to infants.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV/AIDS
• infectious disease
• motherhood
• well-being

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank her faculty mentors Dr. Elizabeth Vonk and Dr. Orion Mowbray for their warm support and generous editorial comments and suggestions.