The nurse teaches clients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) about the importance of taking their medications as prescribed. What does the nurse recognize as the primary factors for medication nonadherence in the AIDS population?

Question

Standard Text: Select all that apply.
1. The difficulty with availability of medications to treat AIDS
2. A lack of understanding for the reason to take medications
3. The necessity of having to take multiple medications throughout the day
4. The unpleasant side effects associated with the medications
5. Provider unwillingness to follow established protocols.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 3
Rationale 1: Medications are generally available for clients with AIDS today.
Rationale 2: A lack of understanding could be a factor, but it is the schedule of taking multiple drugs that leads to noncompliance.
Rationale 3: Multiple medications are required throughout the day. The more medications taken daily, the higher the noncompliance rate.
Rationale 4: Most clients with AIDS recognize the importance of taking medications in spite of side effects.
Rationale 5: There is no evidence that this unwillingness exists.
Global Rationale: The primary factors responsible for treatment failure are adverse effects of the medications, lack of adherence to drug therapy, emergence of resistant HIV strains, and the genetic variability among patients.
To be successful, antiretroviral therapy requires strict patient adherence to a complex regimen. Unfortunately, many factors deter patients from adhering to the regimen. Some antiretroviral drugs have inconvenient schedules, and must be taken three to four times per day or be given parenterally. Some are expensive or simply not available to patients in developing countries. Others make the patient feel quite ill; patients may actually feel much better without taking the drugs. There is no evidence that providers are unwilling to start clients on appropriate protocols.