A comparison of adherence to antiretroviral therapy amongst adolescent patients of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative Children’s Centers of Excellence before and after attendance at recreational therapy camp

ABSTRACT

Adherence rates among adolescents to antiretroviral medications are poor and average well below the accepted optimal level of greater than 95%. Attendance at recreational therapy camp (RTC) offers a potential mechanism for addressing these adherence issues. The present study investigated the effect of RTC on adherence to antiretroviral therapy, assessed by pill counts on a cohort of patients from the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative sites in Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi and Uganda. CD4 counts before and after RTC were compared as secondary endpoints. RTC took place over one to two weeks. Out of 448 children enrolled into RTC between 2012 and 2015, informed consent and adequate adherence data were obtained on 409 children. During the first 6 months following RTC, significantly more attendees had pill counts indicating adherence consistently greater than 95%, compared to the 6 months prior to RTC (p = 0.023). This improvement was not maintained during the second six months following RTC (p = 0.374). This study indicated some potential short-term benefit in terms of adherence to antiretroviral medications for HIV-positive children attending RTC.

KEYWORDS:

• Antiretroviral therapy
• adherence
• recreational camp

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.