Aim: This paper reports an evaluation of the effect of symptom management programmed on drug adherence, CD4 count and virus load and the quality of life of patients with HIV/AIDS.
Background: Patients with HIV/AIDS have to face the long-term side effects caused by highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens. There has been little research to evaluate the influence of drug intervention side effects on self-care.
Methods: Sixty-seven patients with HIV/AIDS were randomly assigned to one-on-one teaching, group teaching, or control groups. All those in the one-on-one and group teaching groups attended a symptom management programme once a week, followed by 3 weeks of continuity and telephone counselling. Those in the control group were offered experimental intervention at the conclusion of data collection. The Customized Adherence Self-Report Questionnaire, CD4 count and virus load, and Quality of Life Index were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the symptom management programme before and at 3 months after the intervention.
Results: Median differences on the Customized Adherence Self-Report Questionnaire, CD4 count and virus load, and quality of life in both experimental groups were statistically significantly better than in the control group.
Conclusions: The symptom management programme can increase self-care ability in managing medication side effects in patients with HIV/AIDS.