Abstract
African Americans are disproportionately affected by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). New treatments that slow the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection offer hope for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, but lack of access to care and poor treatment adherence remain significant obstacles to HIV treatment. This study investigated the association between education literacy to HIV treatment adherence and barriers to care among African Americans living with HIV/AIDS. A community-recruited sample of 85 African-American men and 53 women receiving HIV treatment completed measures of health literacy, health status, treatment adherence, emotional well-being, and barriers to care. Nearly one-third (29%) of the participants had <12 years of education or were functionally illiterate, and those with low-education literacy were less likely to be adherent to HIV medications within the previous two days. Lower-education literacy also was related to reasons for missing medications and barriers to accessing medical care. Individuals of low-education literacy also were more emotionally distressed, lacked social support, and were less optimistic than those with higher education. These results indicate that education and health literacy are important factors in HIV-treatment adherence and access to medical care. Interventions are needed for improving treatment adherence among low-income minorities, and such interventions will need tailoring for individuals with limited reading ability.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 439-446 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of the National Medical Association |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| State | Published - Aug 1999 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- African Americans
- AIDS
- HIV
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment and treatment adherence among African-American adults with disadvantaged education. / Kalichman, Seth C.; Catz, Sheryl L; Ramachandran, Bineetha.
In: Journal of the National Medical Association, Vol. 91, No. 8, 08.1999, p. 439-446.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment and treatment adherence among African-American adults with disadvantaged education
AU - Kalichman, Seth C.
AU - Catz, Sheryl L
AU - Ramachandran, Bineetha
PY - 1999/8
Y1 - 1999/8
N2 - African Americans are disproportionately affected by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). New treatments that slow the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection offer hope for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, but lack of access to care and poor treatment adherence remain significant obstacles to HIV treatment. This study investigated the association between education literacy to HIV treatment adherence and barriers to care among African Americans living with HIV/AIDS. A community-recruited sample of 85 African-American men and 53 women receiving HIV treatment completed measures of health literacy, health status, treatment adherence, emotional well-being, and barriers to care. Nearly one-third (29%) of the participants had <12 years of education or were functionally illiterate, and those with low-education literacy were less likely to be adherent to HIV medications within the previous two days. Lower-education literacy also was related to reasons for missing medications and barriers to accessing medical care. Individuals of low-education literacy also were more emotionally distressed, lacked social support, and were less optimistic than those with higher education. These results indicate that education and health literacy are important factors in HIV-treatment adherence and access to medical care. Interventions are needed for improving treatment adherence among low-income minorities, and such interventions will need tailoring for individuals with limited reading ability.
AB - African Americans are disproportionately affected by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). New treatments that slow the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection offer hope for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, but lack of access to care and poor treatment adherence remain significant obstacles to HIV treatment. This study investigated the association between education literacy to HIV treatment adherence and barriers to care among African Americans living with HIV/AIDS. A community-recruited sample of 85 African-American men and 53 women receiving HIV treatment completed measures of health literacy, health status, treatment adherence, emotional well-being, and barriers to care. Nearly one-third (29%) of the participants had <12 years of education or were functionally illiterate, and those with low-education literacy were less likely to be adherent to HIV medications within the previous two days. Lower-education literacy also was related to reasons for missing medications and barriers to accessing medical care. Individuals of low-education literacy also were more emotionally distressed, lacked social support, and were less optimistic than those with higher education. These results indicate that education and health literacy are important factors in HIV-treatment adherence and access to medical care. Interventions are needed for improving treatment adherence among low-income minorities, and such interventions will need tailoring for individuals with limited reading ability.
KW - African Americans
KW - AIDS
KW - HIV
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M3 - Article
C2 - 12656432
AN - SCOPUS:0033245642
VL - 91
SP - 439
EP - 446
JO - Journal of the National Medical Association
JF - Journal of the National Medical Association
SN - 1943-4693
IS - 8
ER -