A prospective, observational cohort study to elicit adverse effects of antiretroviral agents in a remote resource-restricted tribal population of Chhattisgarh

OBJECTIVE: To assess the adverse effects of antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and its adherence in HIV-infected patients, in remote and tribal area with restricted resources. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study carried out at Department of Medicine, Government Medical College, Jagdalpur. A set of questions were asked and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were recorded for every patient. RESULTS: 79 HIV positive patients were analyzed. Among them, 68 (86%) had at least one ADR. The mean ADR per patient was 1.64 (±1.09). The most common ADR in our study was peripheral neuropathy (20.83%), followed by skin rashes (15.83%). Twenty-one patients (26.58%) had severe (grade-3 and grade-4) ADRs. Female patients had more ADRs (45.71%) than males (11.36%); severe ADRs had a statistically significant positive correlation with sex and CD4 cell count of the patients. CONCLUSION: In spite of high ADRs, HAART is the only answer to HIV/AIDS; thus, management requires a highly precise balance between benefits of durable HIV suppression and the risks of drug toxicity to achieve the therapeutic goals, with conventional drugs or with newer less toxic agents.