| dc.description.abstract | Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a communicable disease that has been a global health issue as well as a pediatric health issue. Studies reported the life expectancy of approximated 13 years in 36%-61% HIV-infected children. A study conducted in Indonesia showed that HIV-infected children generally died before 5-year-old. In order to overcome this, adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) therapy plays an important role. Previous researchs found that HIV status disclosure to the infected children was able to improve the adherence of ART. The study aimed to evaluate whether HIV disclosure is associated with ART treatment adherence.
Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 82 HIV-infected children. The study was conducted at Haji Adam Malik Medan Hospital. The study participants were selected by consecutive sampling technique and were requested to fill MMAS-8 questionnaire and participate in an interview. Analyses were carried out with SPSS program and were considered statistically significant if p value <0.05.
Results: Majority of the subjects were male (57.3%), 5-11-year-old (56.1%), stage 1 (62.2%), have took ART medication for 1-3 years (41.5%) and 4-5 years (40.2%), had HIV-infected mothers (84.1%), and were vertically trasmitted from the mothers (64.6%). Based on the HIV status disclosure, thirty-five (42.7%) subjects have been disclosed. Bivariate analysis showed that children HIV disclosure was significantly associated with ART adherence. Multivariate analysis showed no statistical significance with age and duration of ART treatment.
Conclusion: Children HIV status disclosure was significantly associated with ART therapy adherence. | en_US |
