Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study

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dc.contributor.advisorMyer, Landonen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorO'Sullivan, Briana Jeanen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-02T14:43:14Z
dc.date.available2016-02-02T14:43:14Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical referencesen_ZA
dc.description.abstractProper implementation of and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is significantly associated with better health and longer life in HIV-positive individuals. Consistent, adequate adherence has been shown to lead to a suppressed viral load. A low viral load delays the virus's progression and leads to better health outcomes for the individual. Adequate adherence is especially important among HIV-positive pregnant women. How well a woman adheres to her ART can not only improve her health during pregnancy but can protect the infant from HIV by preventing in utero transmission of the virus. Continuing ART protects against transmission via breastmilk later in the infant's life. While the benefits of good adherence are undeniable, the definition of adequate adherence varies widely in the literature. Taking 80 to 100% of pills as prescribed is commonly used as the threshold for adequate adherence levels. Various methods exist for measuring ART adherence, and while some are more reliable than others, there is no gold standard. This ambiguity in ART research extends to pregnant women, with even less known about HIV infected women established already on ART who then become pregnant. Changes in treatment protocols in the Western Cape and improvement of ART delivery throughout South Africa have resulted in this group of long-term users growing in size. Without more research into the barriers of ART adherence in these women, efforts to scale up treatment programs and to end mother to child transmission of HIV will ultimately fail. This dissertation is an exploration of these ideas. It begins to fill the gap in current knowledge related to ART compliance in pregnant women, and gives new insights into how specific barriers to adherence can adversely affect this specific group of established ART users.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationO'Sullivan, B. J. (2015). <i>Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16701en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationO'Sullivan, Briana Jean. <i>"Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16701en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationO'Sullivan, B. 2015. Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - O'Sullivan, Briana Jean AB - Proper implementation of and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is significantly associated with better health and longer life in HIV-positive individuals. Consistent, adequate adherence has been shown to lead to a suppressed viral load. A low viral load delays the virus's progression and leads to better health outcomes for the individual. Adequate adherence is especially important among HIV-positive pregnant women. How well a woman adheres to her ART can not only improve her health during pregnancy but can protect the infant from HIV by preventing in utero transmission of the virus. Continuing ART protects against transmission via breastmilk later in the infant's life. While the benefits of good adherence are undeniable, the definition of adequate adherence varies widely in the literature. Taking 80 to 100% of pills as prescribed is commonly used as the threshold for adequate adherence levels. Various methods exist for measuring ART adherence, and while some are more reliable than others, there is no gold standard. This ambiguity in ART research extends to pregnant women, with even less known about HIV infected women established already on ART who then become pregnant. Changes in treatment protocols in the Western Cape and improvement of ART delivery throughout South Africa have resulted in this group of long-term users growing in size. Without more research into the barriers of ART adherence in these women, efforts to scale up treatment programs and to end mother to child transmission of HIV will ultimately fail. This dissertation is an exploration of these ideas. It begins to fill the gap in current knowledge related to ART compliance in pregnant women, and gives new insights into how specific barriers to adherence can adversely affect this specific group of established ART users. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study TI - Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16701 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16701
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationO'Sullivan BJ. Adherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional study. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16701en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPublic Healthen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHIV Infectionsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPregnancyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherReproductive Healthen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAntenatal Careen_ZA
dc.titleAdherence in HIV-positive women entering antenatal care on antiretroviral therapy: A cross-sectional studyen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPHen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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