Barriers to antiretroviral medication adherence in HIV-infected women

Little is known about the barriers which women living with HIV/AIDS encount er that impede their adherence to antiretroviral medication regimens. Yet i n order to design effective interventions to improve women's adherence, it is first imperative to identify the factors that contribute to their non-ad herence. The purpose of this study was to explore, from HIV-infected women 's own perspectives, the barriers they faced in adhering to combination ant iretroviral therapies. Twenty HIV/-infected women were asked to keep a pers onal journal for a period of one month. In the journals, women wrote about what their lives were like while taking antiretroviral medications. Line-by -line open coding was done to identify major ideas and themes within the jo urnal entries. Results showed that women faced six main barriers to adheren ce, those related to: (I) medication regimens, (2) side effects, (3) social relationships, (4) medication beliefs, (5) daily schedules, and (6) body w eight. The findings underscore the difficult nature: of the antiretroviral regimens and illuminate the daily obstacles women face in adhering to thera py. Interventions that target women's unique barriers are needed to improve adherence to antiretroviral medication regimens.