Patient’s perception, compliance to treatment and health education of antiretroviral therapy among HIV patients at a tertiary healthcare setting

Objective: To illustrate perceptions, compliance to treatment and satisfaction levels regarding health education services pertaining to the anti-retrovival therapy among HIV and AIDS patients. Methods: The cross-sectional survey was carried out at the HIV Treatment Centre, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, from September 2009 to February 2010 in which patients were interviewed separately regarding their perceptions, compliance to treatment and satisfaction levels regarding health education services pertaining to the anti-retrovival therapy. All data collected was entered into SPSS version 15.0. The data was revalidated and analysed. Results: One hundred and forty patients were interviewed; there were 99 (70.7%) males.. Of the total, 28 (20%) had no knowledge about the beneficial effects of the therapy, and 45 (32 %) ranked health education services extremely beneficial in understanding the anti-retrovival therapy. Conclusion: While a significant proportion of patients considered ART either somewhat beneficial or beneficial in treating their ailment, they were unclear about the impact of health education provided at the treatment centre and different forms of print media.