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Newman CE, Mao L, Persson A, Holt M, Slavin S, Kidd MR, Post JJ, Wright E, de Wit J. 'Not Until I'm Absolutely Half-Dead and Have To:' Accounting for Non-Use of Antiretroviral Therapy in Semi-Structured Interviews with People Living with HIV in Australia. AIDS Patient Care STDS 2015; 29:267-78. [PMID: 25806574 DOI: 10.1089/apc.2014.0301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Current debates regarding the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to promote both individual- and population-level health benefits underscore the importance of understanding why a subpopulation of people with diagnosed HIV and access to treatment choose not to use it. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between 2012 and 2014 with 27 people living with HIV in Australia who were not using ART at the time of interview. Analytic triangulation permitted an appreciation of not only the varied personal reasons for non-use of treatment, but also underlying views on HIV treatment, and the ideal conditions imagined necessary for treatment initiation. Policy goals to increase the number of people with HIV using ART must recognize the diverse explanations for non-use of ART, which include concerns about the various impacts of committing to lifelong pharmaceutical treatment use. Our research identified distinctive subgroups among people who are not using antiretroviral therapy, with a range of individual and social needs that may affect treatment decisions. These findings challenge assumptions about treatment non-use in resource-rich settings, revealing persistent consumer fears about the potent and unknown effects of HIV medications that deserve greater recognition in policy debate on treatment uptake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christy E. Newman
- Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Limin Mao
- Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Asha Persson
- Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Martin Holt
- Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Sean Slavin
- Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, Sydney, Australia
| | - Michael R. Kidd
- Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Jeffrey J. Post
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
- Prince of Wales Clinical School, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Edwina Wright
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- The Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - John de Wit
- Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia
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Sabbatani S, Manfredi R, Fulgaro C. Long-term stabilized immunological-virological parameters of HIV infection in an AIDS presenter followed for 20 years, with irregular or no antiretroviral therapy. Int J STD AIDS 2012; 23:e46-7. [PMID: 22581897 DOI: 10.1258/ijsa.2009.009215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
We report the case of an HIV-infected patient who has been followed for 20 years, and despite presenting with AIDS (due to three episodes of cryptococcosis plus one of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia) who during subsequent years missed, refused or took with limited compliance all recommended medications, including combination antiretroviral therapy, and primary and secondary antimicrobial chemoprophylaxis against opportunistic infections. The unexpected clinical and laboratory stabilization of our patient paralleled a progressive increase in his peripheral CD4+ T-lymphocyte count (range 410-825 cells/mL) and a relatively controlled HIV viraemia (5970-44,000 HIV-RNA copies/mL). Such a recovery of sufficient immune competency after experiencing four episodes of severe AIDS-associated opportunistic infections, without reliable antiretroviral and antimicrobial support raises several questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Sabbatani
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Aging, and Nephrologic Diseases, University of Bologna Alma Mater Studiorum, S Orsola-Malipighi Hospital, Via Massarenti 11, Bologna I-40138, Italy
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