Factors influencing non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy in South Africa: a systematic review

This systematic review was conducted based on the available data on antiretroviral therapy adherence among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals in South Africa and identified factors that were outlined by different studies. In order to identify said factors, the review question was: “What are the factors influencing non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa?”.

The search was conducted on four databases: PubMed (9), Google Scholar (5340), EBSCOhost (9), and South African national EDT (10) using the keywords: “non-adherence”/”non-compliance”, “anti-

retroviral therapy”, “HAART”, “ARVs”, and “South Africa”. The search yielded seven studies that met the inclusion criteria.

From the results, six themes and 14 sub-themes emerged of factors influencing non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy in South Africa, inclusive of: patient-related factors, economic factors, social factors, health system and health team factors, therapy-related factors, and cultural and belief factors.

It is believed that from the information provided in this review, interventions can be drawn which will help patients achieve the benefits of ART, while at the same time helping South Africa to achieve its aim of reducing high mortality and morbidity rates.