Impacts of Operation Triple Zero (OTZ) Club Support Group on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (Art) Adherence among Adolescents in Enugu State
More than two-thirds of people infected with HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Adherence to Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) is a key factor that leads to viral load suppression, while non-adherence is a major cause of HIV drug resistance and subsequent immunological and clinical failure. Participating in a support group for adolescents has been shown to be a significant resource for improve adherence among adolescents with chronic illness. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of Operation Triple Zero (OTZ) clubs on ART adherence among adolescents on ART. A cross-sectional study was conducted on HIV/AIDS adolescent patients accessing treatment at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Mother of Christ Hospital and Poly clinic all in Enugu North LGA, Enugu State, Nigeria. All the Adolescents (ages 10 -17) on ART on-treatment were the source population. A simple random sampling using the lottery method was used to select the files of the participants using the patient files. The participants were grouped into two, those that were enrolled in OTZ club and those not enrolled in any of the support group. Data generated were analyzed with Chi square using SPSS version 20.0 at a 95% confidence interval. Results show that females (50.4%) participated more in the study compared to males (49.6%). It also shows that the mean age of the respondents was 13.2±2.14 with majority (43.4%) of the respondents between the ages of 10-12years. The results also show that those enrolled in OTZ club have higher viral load suppression rate (92%) as compared to those not enrolled in the programme (48.3%). The result of data analysis shows that demographic factors such age and sex does not have significant effect on ART adherence which could be indicated in viral load suppression (p> 0.05%) but participation in support group activities have. The education and support received from support group could help adolescents understand the importance of taking care of their health by adhering to their ART.