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Item Influence of depression and interpersonal support on adherence to antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV(BioMed Central Ltd, 2023) Thompson, R.G.A.; Nutor, J.J.; Gyamerah, A.O.; et al.Abstract Background Poor adherence and under-utilization of antiretroviral therapy (ART) services have been major setbacks to achieving 95-95-95 policy goals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Social support and mental health challenges may serve as barriers to accessing and adhering to ART but are under-studied in low-income countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of interpersonal support and depression scores with adherence to ART among persons living with HIV (PLWH) in the Volta region of Ghana. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 181 PLWH 18 years or older who receive care at an ART clinic between November 2021 and March 2022. The questionnaire included a 6-item simplified ART adherence scale, the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the 12-item Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12 (ISEL-12). We first used a chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test to assess the association between these and additional demographic variables with ART adherence status. We then built a stepwise multivariable logistic regression model to explain ART adherence. Results ART adherence was 34%. The threshold for depression was met by 23% of participants, but it was not significantly associated with adherence in multivariate analysis(p=0.25). High social support was reported by 48.1%, and associated with adherence (p=0.033, aOR=3.45, 95% CI=1.09–5.88). Other factors associated with adherence included in the multivariable model included not disclosing HIV status (p=0.044, aOR=2.17, 95% CI=1.03–4.54) and not living in an urban area (p=0.00037, aOR=0.24, 95% CI=0.11–0.52). Conclusion Interpersonal support, rural residence, and not disclosing HIV status were independent predictors of adherence to ART in the study area.Item The role of social support in antiretroviral therapy uptake and retention among pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in the Greater Accra region of Ghana(BMC Public Health, 2024) Ameyaw, E.K.; Thompson, R.G.A.; Yeboah, I.; et al.Introduction The role of social support in antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake and retention among pregnant and Postpartum women in Ghana’s capital, Accra, have received limited attention in the literature. This cross-sectional study extends existing knowledge by investigating the role of social support in ART adherence and retention among pregnant and postpartum women in Accra. Methods We implemented a cross-sectional study in eleven (11) public health facilities. Convenience sampling approach was used to recruit 180 participants, out of which 176 with completed data were included in the study. ART adherence in the three months preceding the survey (termed consistent uptake) and ART retention were the outcomes of interest. Initial analysis included descriptive statistics characterized by frequencies and percentages to describe the study population. In model building, we included all variables that had p-values of 0.2 or less in the bivariate analysis to minimize negative confounding. Overall, a two-sided p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The data were analyzed using Stata version 14.1 (College Station, TX). Results In the multivariate model, we realized a lower odds trend between social support score and consistent ART adherence, however, was insignificant. Similarly, both the univariate and multivariate models showed that Social support has no relationship with ART retention. Meanwhile, urban residents had a higher prevalence of ART adherence (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 2.04, CI = 1.12–3.73) relative to rural and peri-urban residents. As compared to those below age 30, women aged 30–34 (aPR=0.58, CI=0.34–0.98) and above 35 (aPR=0.48, CI=0.31–0.72) had lower prevalence of ART adherence Women who knew their partner’s HIV status had lower prevalence of ART adherence compared to those who did not know (aPR = 0.62, CI = 0.43–0.91). Also, having a rival or co-wife was significantly associated with ART retention, such that higher prevalence of ART adherence among women with rivals relative to those without rivals (aOR = 1.98, CI = 1.16–3.36) Conclusion Our study showed that social support does not play any essential role in ART adherence among the surveyed pregnant and postpartum women. Meanwhile, factors such as having a rival and being under the age of Thirty play an instrumental role. The study has signaled the need for ART retention scale-up interventions to have a multi-pronged approach in order to identify the multitude of underlying factors, beyond social support, that enhance or hinder efforts to achieve higher uptake and retention rates.