The introduction of highly active combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) has changed the management of HIV/AIDS, which is recognized as a chronic disease with relevant aspects, such as adherence and quality of life. This study aimed to compare clinical and demographic characteristics and health-related quality of life in people with adherence and non-adherence to cART. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 200 participants. The instruments used were the Adherence Follow-up Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey and the WHOQOL-HIV BREF. Poisson regression was applied to obtain estimates of adjusted prevalence ratios (PRadj). Individuals lacking therapeutic support were more likely to be non-adherent than those with proper support (PR: 1.79). The health-related quality of life of individuals with non-adherence was 4% lower (PR = 0.96) in the general health domain than individuals with adherence. Non-adherence to cART was associated with lower quality of life in the general health domain and no therapeutic support.
Keywords: HIV clinical outcomes research; HIV therapies; epidemiology.