Adherence to the antiretroviral treatment as a health-promoting behavior in elderly adults

Introduction: Adherence to antiretroviral treatment is a behavior that favors the health of individuals living with the acquired immunodeficiency virus; to achieve such, we must bear in mind individual characteristics and experiences, cognitive and affective aspects, concepts established in the Health Promotion Model. Objective: to analyze adherence to the antiretroviral treatment in a group of elderly adults in a Chilean hospital, in consideration of the Health Promotion Model. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional and correlational study including 18 elderly adults in whom some concepts of the Health Promotion Model were analyzed. The work used an instrument that included the simplified questionnaire of adherence to treatment (sensitivity 72%, specificity of 87%). Results: Adherence to treatment was of 94.4%. Ale users present cognitions and affects favorable for adherence, with the perception of self-efficacy of 89.9%. Association was found between adherence and interrupting the intake of medications upon adverse effects and/or negative feelings toward these (p = 0.001, Pearson of -0.714), in addition to this association with the general perception of barriers (p = 0.021. Cramer's V of -0.542). Discussion: Aspects, like perceived self-efficacy, low perception of barriers, and personal motivations favored adherence to treatment. Conclusions: Elderly adults have achieved adherence to treatment due to the perception of benefits and scarcity of harriers to access such.