The knowledge about HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral treatment of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Many HIV positive patients are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to assist in decreasing the replication of the HIV virus within the body.Adherence to this medication is important, as non-adherence can have serious repercussions.Therefore, the patients' knowledge of ART and their disease is crucial in ensuring good adherence.A range of barriers to patient education were suspected by the researcher in this community of Delft.The high influx of patients into the clinic everyday minimized consultation time and thereby diminished the opportunity for effective patient education.Consequently, adherence to medication which is closely related to the knowledge and understanding of patients about critical questions revealed that (n=0/0%) of the participants had good knowledge, (n=40/20%) of the participants had average knowledge and (n=160/80%) of the participants had poor knowledge.The average score for all participants for all 20 knowledge testing questions was (12.6/63%).The findings showed that the overall knowledge (n=160/80%) is poor.Basic terms and principles of HIV/AIDS and ART were not understood and serious misconceptions regarding the disease were revealed.
Author: Lauren Muriel Terblanche
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2121664267