Abstract            Volume:8  Issue-2  Year-2020         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a key intervention in the prevention and control of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS).  Lack of strict adherence to ART is considered to be one of the key challenges to AIDS care providers worldwide. Therefore; the main objective of this study is to assess the magnitude of ART adherence and its determinants among people living with HIV/AIDS at Wolaita Zone selected health facilities, Southern Ethiopia. An Institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted at ART units of the study area from August to September 2017/18. Systematic random sampling technique was employed to select 160 individuals with interviewer administered questionnaire. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were done. In the multivariate analysis, variables with P-value ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant between independent variables and the outcome variable (medication adherence). Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval was used to determine the strength and direction of the association. The study revealed that overall prevalence of ART adherence was 92%. Adherence was found associated with knowledge on ART adherence [COR=16.143(95%CI: 1.086, 240.046], treatment schedule fitting with daily routine activities [COR=56.613(95%CI: 2.592, 1237.000] and medication side effect [COR=0.029(95%CI: 0.001, 0.748]. The adherence rate in this study lower. So it is still to work those Programs and clinical efforts to improve medication taking in the study setups should strive to: increase patients’ awareness on adherence to medication, drug side effects and possible remedies and, integrate medications better into patients’ daily routines.

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