Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about disease and medicine of adolescents living with HIV/AIDS at Surin Hospital

Abstract

Objective: Objective: To explore knowledge, attitudes and beliefs aboutdisease and medication in the perspective of adolescents living withHIV/AIDS (ALWHs) and receiving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. Methods: Aqualitative research using focus group discussion and in-depth interview toexplore the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of ALWHs followed up atimmunology clinic of Surin hospital, Thailand from March to May 2013 withthe questions guided by constructs of the Explanatory Model (EM), theHealth Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).Data were analyzed by content analysis. Results: Twenty ALWHsparticipated in 3-rounded focus group discussions and an individualinterview. According to the HBM, the findings showed that the ALWHsperceived that HIV/AIDS was an incurable disease, and ART was the onlytreatment which also helped them get stronger. Based on the informationobtained, ALWHs were classified into two groups according to their age;early (aged 10 to 15 years) and middle adolescents (aged 16 to 18 years).The obvious difference was the middle adolescents were able to explaintheir answers in detail while most of the early adolescents had unclear andbasic answers. Regarding to the perceived barriers, pill size and sideeffectsof ARV drugs were the first concern when they had the ARV drugresistance. Barriers to taking ARV drugs regularly were transportation tothe hospital, physical properties of ARV drugs, their daily activities, andunavailability of adherence aids. Their family was the strongest influence ontheir normative belief. Conclusion: Middle ALWHs had clearer and deeperexplanations about HIV/AID disease and medications than earlycounterparts. Their perceptions according to HBM were in high level. Theirfamily members played major roles on their adherence to ARV therapy.Keywords: knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, adolescents, HIV/AIDS