ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Treatment adherence of 95% or higher is recommended for appropriate therapeutic response and improving the function of immune system in HIV positive patients. To the best of our knowledge, there was report of adherence to HAART regimen from Iran. In the present study, we have reported the HAART adherence rate of Iranian HIV positive patients. METHOD: In a twelve-month period, all patients older than 18 years old who referred to HIV clinic were on HAART regimen enrolled in the study. Beside demographic and clinical characteristics of Iranian HIV positive patients, Adherence to HAART was assessed by self-report and pill count methods at during the three consecutive months of the patients' visits. RESULTS: The mean of patients' adherence to HAART regimen based on the self-report method was 69.4%, 64.6% and 62.8% in the first, second and third month of follow up, respectively. The mean of adherence rates in three months followup assessed by self-report (65.5%) and pill count (60.4%) methods were correlated significantly (r=0.93 and p<0.001). Living with family members, changing the HAART regimen and stage of disease had a significant relationship with adherence rates. CONCLUSION: Although the adherence level of Iranian HIV infected patients is acceptable compared to other countries, the available antiretroviral medications are limited in our country, therefore, encouraging patients to have higher levels of adherence is more important.
Subject(s)
Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use , Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active/methods , HIV Infections/drug therapy , Medication Adherence , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/drug therapy , Adult , Anti-HIV Agents/administration & dosage , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Iran , Male , Middle Aged , Young AdultABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Surveillance studies evaluating antimicrobial susceptibilities are of great value in preventing the spread of resistant pathogens by elucidating the trend of resistance in commonly used antibiotics and as a consequence providing information for prescribing the most appropriate agent. This study is a longitudinal antimicrobial resistance surveillance study designed to evaluate the trend in antimicrobial resistance to gram negative microorganisms from 2007 to 2010. METHOD: During a four-year period (2007-2010) isolates derived from all patients admitted to infectious diseases ward of Imam Khomeini Hospital, the major referral center for infectious disease in Iran with the highest admission rates, were evaluated. Based on disk diffusion method and zone of inhibition size, the microorganism was regarded as to be sensitive, resistant or has intermediate susceptibility to the antimicrobial agents. RESULTS: The widest spread Gram-negative microorganism in all of isolates taken together in our study was E.coli (30%) followed by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in 28.6% and Enterobacter spp. in 11.9%, respectively. The susceptibility to amikacin, imipenem, piperacillin/tazobactam, and nitrofurantoin was equal or above 50% for all microorganisms over four years. However, the susceptibility to ampicillin, ampicillin/sulbactam, cefotaxim, and ceftriaxone was less than 50% in derived isolates during the study period. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the finding of the present study revealed that resistance rate to common antimicrobial agents in Iran is growing and isolates were susceptible mostly to broad-spectrum antibiotics including imipenem and piperacillin/tazobactam.