Sources influencing patients in their HIV medication decisions

The authors surveyed 202 patients (54.5% male; 62.4% African American) enro lled at St. Louis HIV clinics to identify the importance of various sources of influence in their HIV medication decisions. Physicians were the most i mportant source for 122 (60.4%) respondents, whereas prayer was most import ant for 24 respondents (11.9%). In multivariate tests controlling for CD4 c ounts, Caucasian men were more likely than Caucasian women and African Amer icans of both genders to select a physician as the most important source. A frican Americans were more likely than Caucasians to mention prayer as the most important source. Caucasians and those rating physicians as the most i mportant source were more likely to be using antiretroviral medications. Re spondents identified multiple important influences-hence the potential for conflicting messages about HIV medications. These findings have implication s for health education practices and behavioral research in the medical set ting.