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7th Call - Dr. Bismark Sarfo

Project Title: A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Clinical and Behavioral Characteristics of Patients Receiving Medical Care for HIV/AIDS

Principal Investigator: Dr. Bismark Sarfo (Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana)

Email Address: sbismark@yahoo.com / bsafo@ug.edu.gh

Award Amount: GHC 4,953.00

Project Status: Completed

Summary:

Despite the continued decline in HIV infection and deaths globally, sub-Saharan Africa continues to account for major proportion of new infections and prevalence worldwide, which underscores the importance of sustaining research and strengthening HIV prevention efforts in Africa, and Ghana. The objective of this proposal is to evaluate the clinical and behavioral characteristics of patients receiving HIV/AIDS treatment at the 37 Military Hospital, in order to identify factors involved in successful or failure in HIV/AIDS therapy. In light of this, data on HIV medical care, antiretroviral therapy regimens, and virologic status, use of prevention services, medication adherence, and levels of ongoing risk behaviors among persons with HIV infection who are receiving medical care at the HIV clinic of the hospital will be collected, and analyzed. Also, blood samples will be collected from patients and will be subsequently analyzed (after the pilot study, in year 2) to determine biomarkers associated with HIV immune reconstitution inflammatory symptoms (IRIS) in patients who are on anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

The outcome of this study will provide useful information about the;

  1. CD4 counts and viral loads profiles of HIV patients receiving care at the clinic
  2. Factors associated with ART adherence among patients on treatment
  3. Impact of local HIV prevention programs targeting the patients at the clinic
  4. The need for any revisions of the existing HIV programs linked to the ART clinics
  5. Characteristics of HIV-infected adults receiving HIV care who report discontinuation of ART
  6. Inflammatory biomarkers of HIV immune reconstitution inflammatory symptoms among patients receiving care at the hospital (after pilot study in year 2)

This information would help provide evidence-based policies and programmatic decisions in helping to improve the quality of care of HIV patients receiving treatments, and in reducing transmission of the virus. This is a pilot study, and a total sum of GHC5, 000 is requested to support patients’ recruitment, data collection through interviews and medical records abstractions, and data analyses to determine association between variables and treatment outcome.

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Findings

  1. A total of 211  HIV/AIDS patients on anti-retroviral therapy participated in the study
  2. The mean age of the study participants is 44(minimum=18, and maximum age=80)
  3. There were 44(20.85%) males and 167(79.15%) females and all were heterosexuals.
  4. 25(12.76%) of the participants never attended school;99(50.51%) had post-primary education(JHS and SHS ):13(6.68%) had technical education(some associate degree): 2(1.02%) had bachelor’s degrees and another 2(1.02%)  had postgraduate education.29(14.8%) of the participants refused to  provide answers on their educational status.
  5. Those employed for wages constituted 43(20..38%) while 132(62.56%) are self-employed
  6. 17(8.06%) of the participants are not yet on ART (awaiting their CD4 test), whereas 173(81.99%) are currently taking anti-retroviral medication.
  7. 122(62.24%) have never had any trouble with side effect of their medication while 11(5.61%) rarely had trouble with side effect of their medication.
  8. 161(82.15%) claimed they are will be able to take all or most of their medication as directed by their   doctor.
  9. 151(17.56%) strongly disagree d while 22(10.43%) rarely agreed that they will have unprotected sex if their partners are also HIV positive.
  10. 164(83.67%) indicated that they have never received any free condoms during the past 12 months while only 18(9.18%) said they had.
  11. 143(67.77%) reported that they followed the specific instruction for taking their medication, while only 17(9.0%) don’t follow those specific instructions.
  12. 152(72.04%) reported they never took alcohol before sex, while 10(4.74%) had ever drank alcohol beverage before having sex during the past 12 months.
  13. Majority 186(88.15%) have never used drugs in their lifetime.
  14. 155(79.08%) have never been diagnosed with active TB, whereas only 5(2.55%) have ever been diagnosed with TB.

Only 2(1.02%) of the participants have ever had pneumocystic pneumonia infections.