Adherence to other adjunctive therapies ranged from 27.4% to 82.0% but none of the adjunctive treatment interventions were associated with high levels of adherence.
A 19% reduction in relative risk (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.66 0.996, p = 0.042) was observed for those comparisons reporting high levels of adherence to the prescribed exercise intervention compared to those reporting only moderate levels of adherence.
The adherence data collected indicated high levels of adherence in each arm.
A better understanding of pediatric antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence in sub-Saharan Africa is necessary to develop interventions to sustain high levels of adherence.
Evidence from clinical trials suggests that very high levels of adherence (>95%) are required for optimally suppressing viral load and preventing the emergence of resistant virus [2], [3].
However, the association of drug use with reduced adherence is not uniform, as participants in the Smartest Women's project reported relatively high levels of adherence regardless of current, former, and never drug use status [15].
Since interviews were conducted among individuals attending clinic and consenting to study procedures, the high levels of adherence reported by participants may be an overestimate of actual ARV adherence in this setting.
High levels of adherence is a prerequisite for maintained viral suppression [9], [10] and a lower risk of drug resistance [11], [12] in turn preventing premature morbidity and mortality [5], [13].
High scores indicate high levels of adherence to the treatment.
However, sustaining high levels of adherence to ART is a challenge.
This may reflect their understanding of the importance of high levels of adherence.
