Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Recipients’ Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Treatment Outcome Nexus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-5293/6952Keywords:
HIV/AIDS, Antiretroviral Treatment, Outcomes, Beliefs, PatientsAbstract
In this study the relationship between treatment outcomes and antiretroviral treatment (ART) recipients’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards HIV/AIDS was analysed. The study employed the positivist paradigm, guided by the Health Belief Model in explaining the intricate relationship between disease, sick-role behaviour and the expected outcome of treatment. The target population comprised ART recipients at Mthatha, South Africa. This study made use of a purposive sample of 112 participants, inclusive of male and female adult recipients. The respondents in this study raised a number of positive and negative issues. The results of the study revealed a significant relationship between ART recipients’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS treatment, their view that taking HIV drugs is a waste of time, and the recipients’ results of HIV/AIDS treatment. This implies that a significant difference exists between those who have a better CD4, the same CD4, and a worse CD4, based on their knowledge about taking ARVs. The study did not establish a significant relationship between treatment outcomes and some variables of recipients’ attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, which means there is no difference between the recipients based on all the attitude variables. While a significant difference exists among recipients of different treatment outcomes (CD4 counts), based on their belief that “Having HIV is a death sentence,” no significant difference was found among recipients of different CD4 counts based on their beliefs, such as: whether HIV treatment prolongs life; if a traditional healer can heal HIV; if prayer can heal HIV; that HIV has serious consequences on health; and that practising preventive actions can reduce HIV transmission.
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Copyright (c) 2020 AuthorsAccepted 2020-08-28
Published 2020-11-19