Health Belief Model and Medication Adherence in Patients with HIV

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the components of the Health Belief Model (HBM) in order to predict medication adherence in patients with HIV.

Method: A correlational study was conducted with 150 HIV positive patients including 109 men and 36 women with a mean age of 33. The data was collected in between March 2019 – May2019 from Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Those patients who were in between 18 to 55 years of age and taking antiretroviral therapy from atleast last three months were taken for the study. However those patients who were above age 55, and not taking antiretroviral therapy were not included in the study. They assessed through Urdu translated questionnaire of AIDS health belief scale (HBS), cues to action, and adherence determination questionnaire (ADQ). SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis.

Results: The perceived severity and perceived cost significantly positively predicted medication adherence. However, other variables of the HBM model was not helpful to understand the medication adherence in the research participants.

Conclusion: Perceived severity and perceived cost predicted the medication adherence in the studied sample. On the other hand these results also indicate that there is a need to introduce awareness campaign which will reflect on the importance of taking regular mediaction by HIV patients.

Key Words: Health Belief Model, HIV in Pakistan, Medication Adherence, Perceived Severity, Continuous...