Is there a differential pattern of illness behaviour and adherence to treatment of HIV infection/AIDS in patients with substance abusing history?

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the possible existence of a differential pattern of illness behaviour and adherence to treatment in 69 Spanish HIV/AIDS patients with or without substance abuse history (DA/NDA). Variables directly related to adherence to treatment and more general illness behaviour variables are evaluated. Results show some significant statistical differences between DA and NDA patients in illness behaviour variables. DA patients, compared to NDA patients, shared more syringes, contracted more sexually transmitted diseases, believed HIV was transmitted to them through blood, were conscious of having practised risky behaviour and took the diagnosis test for this reason, regarded their disease as a more serious one, had worse expectations about the effectiveness of treatment and had a worse relationship with the physician. Moreover, the tendency observed is that DA patients have a more negative pattern of adherence to treatment compared with NDA patients, although the differences are not statistically significant.