Magnitude of non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy and associated factors among adult people living with HIV/AIDS in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Following global efforts to increase antiretroviral therapy (ART) access and coverage, Ethiopia has made significant achievement with a 6.3% annual decline in the HIV/AIDS incidence rate between 1990 and 2016. Such success depends not only on access to ART but also on attaining optimum treatment adherence. Emerging studies in Ethiopia has shown the increasing prevalence of poor adherence and lack of the desired viral suppression, but the extent and factors associated with non-adherence to ART are not well known, especially in the current study setup. In this study, we examined the magnitude and factors associated with treatment and non-adherence to ART among people living with HIV in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: An institutional facility based cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among adult people living with HIV/AIDS from mid-December 2016 to February 2017 with only 98.9% response rate. Sociodemographic factors (age, gender, marital status and residential area), economic factors (educational status, income, asset possession, employment status, dietary diversity, nutritional status and food security), and clinical characteristics (CD4 count, duration on ART and history of opportunistic infections) were explanatory variables. ART non-adherence was measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS). We used binary logistic regression and subsequent multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the factors associated with ART non-adherence. RESULT: Overall, 39.7% of the participants were found non-adherent to ART. Strong association was found between non-adherence to ART and young age below 25 years (AOR: 4.30, 95% CI [1.39–3.35]; p = 0.011), urban residential area (AOR: 2.78, CI [1.23–7.09], p = 0.043), lack of employment (AOR: 1.75, 95% CI [1.05–2.91], p = 0.032), food insecurity (AOR: 2.67, 95% CI [7.59–8.97]; p < 0.0001), malnutrition (AOR: 1.55, 95% CI [1.94–2.56]; p = 0.027) and opportunistic infections (AOR: 1.81, 95% CI [1.11–2.97]; p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of non-adherence to ART in this study was high. Sociodemographic and economic factors such as young age of below 25 years, urban residential area, lack of employment, food insecurity, malnutrition and opportunistic infections were among the factors associated with non-adherence to ART.