EVALUATION OF THERAPY ADHERENCE IN HIV INFECTED PATIENTS IN A SLUM IN RIO DE JANEIRO

I/O-This study consists in a qualitative evaluation regarding the therapy adherence of HIV infected patients, conducted by the primary care health working team of the slum Salgueiro (Rio de Janeiro), where the HIV incidence rate is increasing. Salgueiro is a high vulnerable community, with, approximately, 4.5 thousands people, relatively young and with low average education and income. M-Reviewing medical record's information about the unit's HIV positive patients, the following factors work as indicators of a patient's therapy adherence success: quantity and frequency of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) drugs delivered by the pharmacy, quantity of medical appointments made and quantity of exams performed. R/C-Despite easy accessibility to diagnosis, technical information and ART drugs, data analyses revealed negative outcomes: several delays and discontinuity in ART delivery, high absenteeism in appointments and a low number of routine exams performed. In general, adherence to the treatment of other chronic conditions in Salgueiro is low, but the one of HIV patients seems to be even lower. Possible causes for this difference might be the young age of HIV infected patients; patient's shame and guilt feelings; local and familiar prejudices; difficulty in keeping treatment under confidentiality and lack of social support. A collective approach to these problems seems to be a solution to increase treatment success in Salgueiro’s community.