Takeaway
Intensity of menopausal symptoms is inversely proportional to likelihood of lower highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) adherence in HIV-infected menopausal women.
Why this matters
Consider comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation in middle-aged HIV-positive women experiencing moderate-to-severe menopausal symptoms to address common disease/condition or drug-related factors driving nonadherence (e.g., sleep disorders, vasomotor/musculoskeletal complaints).
Key results
313 included; median age, 47 years.
91.5%, 8.5% reported natural, surgical postmenopause, respectively.
19.8%, 32.6%, 15.0% had mild, moderate, severe menopausal symptoms, respectively.
70.6% were nonadherent (25.6%, 45.0%, low, insufficient, respectively) vs 29.4% adherent (24.3%, 5.1%, adequate, strict, respectively).
Nonadherence rate was 45.1%, 80.7%, 79.4%, 93.6% for women with no, mild, moderate, severe symptoms, respectively.
Total Menopause Rating Scale score higher in non- vs adherent women (P<.001).
HAART nonadherence probability, adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR), statistical model (a1PR [95% CI]): mild, 1.80 [1.41-2.29]; moderate, 1.72 [1.36-2.18]; severe, 2.06 [1.64-2.29]).
Epidemiological model (a2PR [95% CI]): mild, 1.84 (1.45-2.34); moderate, 1.83 (1.44-2.32); severe, 2.17 (1.73-2.73).
Study design
Cross-sectional study evaluating the association between menopausal symptoms and HAART adherence in middle-aged Peruvian women with menopausal symptoms, January 2016-December 2017.
Funding: None.
Limitations
Cross-sectional design.
Nongeneralisable.
Measurement bias.
