Adesão à terapia antirretroviral e classes terapêuticas consensuais

Abstract

The expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has contributed significantly to the ongoing decline in new HIV cases worldwide. Besides reducing the risk of transmitting the virus, antiretroviral therapy allows HIV patients to survive longer and have a better quality of life. However, despite the high efficacy of this treatment, its effectiveness has been hampered given the difficulties patients experience in properly adhering to it. Therefore, encouraging the adherence to ART by promoting rational use of antiretrovirals, as well as the participation of a multidisciplinary team in such care, among other measures, is an imminent need. Thus, the present study aimed to establish the relationship between each therapeutic class used in HIV treatments in patients assisted by the Drug Dispensing Units (UDM) of the Secondary Service Center of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, state of Minas Gerais (UFJF-MG) as well as patients’ adherence behavior, in an attempt to identify factors which lead to non-adherence to the treatment and to propose actions in order to promote the rational use of medicines. Data concerning the socio demographic and the dispensation of ARVs to 291 patients assisted by the DMU between January 2009 and December 2010 and the evolution of these patients in 2013 were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and the chi-square test by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 14. The same patients were reassessed in 2013 in order to observe the therapeutic outcomes and patients’ progress with regards to their participation in this study. The profile of patients was outlined as being most man, aged between 41 and 50 years old, single, with 8-11 years of study and living in the city of Juiz de Fora, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Most patients (60.8%) were considered as non-adherent to the treatment and the combination zidovudine + lamivudine + efavirenz was the most prescribed (39.9% of patients). The highest rate of adherence (57.6%) occurred with therapies composed of nucleotide-nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor + non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. The highest rate of non-adherence (64.3%) occurred among patients using nucleotide-nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor + protease inhibitor. The reassessment done in 2013 revealed that 8.6% of patients from the beginning of the study dropped out of treatment after 2011 and there was no significant difference between abandonment and non-adherence observed in the first phase of the study. Also, there was no significant difference in the number of deaths and treatment changes when compared with the group of patients who adhered and the ones who did not adhere to the treatment. Out of the 291 patients, 87.3% adhered to the ART, even those whose medication withdrawals were irregular in the first phase of the study. The others either dropped out of treatment or developed to death. Given the high rate of non-adherence (60.8%) found in the UDM, the importance of encouraging the development of studies on more effective new drugs and dosage forms, with fewer side effects and that are economically viable, and finally, to subside the elaboration of consensus regarding ARV therapy and Pharmaceutical Care protocols for STD / HIV / AIDS should be emphasized.