The transient effect of a peer support intervention to improve adherence among adolescents and young adults failing antiretroviral therapy in Harare, Zimbabwe: a randomized control trial

AIDS Research and Therapy

Nicola Willis¹  Vinie Kouamou²  Chiratidzo E. Ndhlovu²  A. Tariro Makadzange³  Primrose Nyamayaro⁴  Leanne Dougherty⁵  Bisola O. Ojikutu⁶ 

[1] Africaid, Harare, Zimbabwe;Department of Medicine, University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Harare, Zimbabwe;Department of Medicine, University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Harare, Zimbabwe;Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA;Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Harare, Zimbabwe;John Snow Inc, Boston, MA, USA;John Snow Inc, Boston, MA, USA;Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA;

关键词: HIV;    Public health;    Adolescents;    Sub-Saharan Africa;    Zimbabwe;    Peer support;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12981-021-00356-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAdolescents and young adults living with HIV in sub Saharan Africa are at high risk of poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and virologic failure (VF).MethodsWe conducted a randomized control trial among adolescents and young adults on ART with VF to assess the effectiveness of a community-based peer support intervention aimed at improving VF. Viral load (VL) levels were obtained at 12, 24 and 36 weeks. A subset of the participants had baseline HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyped using Sanger sequencing.ResultsThe participants’ median (interquartile range (IQR)) age was 18.1 (IQR: 15.1–20.0) years and half (50.5%, n = 107) were male. At week 24, the proportion of subjects with a detectable viremia was significantly lower in the intervention arm than in the standard of care (SOC) arm (76.0% (n = 79) vs. 89.0% (n = 96), p = 0.013). At Week 36, there remained a difference in the proportion of subjects with a detectable VL between the intervention arm (68.3%, n = 71) and SOC arm (79.6%, n = 86), which was trending towards statistical significance (p = 0.059). There was no difference in the probability of having a detectable VL over time between the intervention and SOC groups (adjusted odds ratio: 1.14, p = 0.439). Baseline HIVDR was observed in 44.0% of the participants in the intervention and 56.0% in the SOC group (p = 0.146).ConclusionA transient effect of the peer support intervention in improving VF was observed among adolescents and young people failing ART.Trial registration: This study is registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov under the reference number: NCT02833441

【 授权许可】

CC BY