Study title

Adhering to HIV treatment everyday for the rest of your life is difficult. This may be particularly acute for an adolescent coming to terms with their HIV status and managing the challenges of growing up with HIV. This qualitative study focused on the lived experience of HIV treatment adherence for adolescents in Uganda (aged 10-24) taking part in an international clinical trial. Our research explored the acceptability of short cycle therapy (SCT), 5 days on HIV treatment and 2 days off, to the trial participants' themselves. This involved conducted qualitative longitudinal data with young people participating in the trial and their carers using in-depth interviews, audio diaries and focus group discussions. Maintaining adherence to HIV treatment is critical to determining long-term health outcomes, yet presents specific challenges for young people which have yet to be qualitatively studied over time. This is a qualitative study investigating factors mediating adolescents’ adherence to Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART) in Uganda. This study was embedded within a funded, clinical trial to assess the acceptability of Short Cycle Therapy as an intervention to promote optimum adherence amongst young people. The study aimed to explore social context, barriers and facilitators to adherence amongst HIV positive adolescents in Uganda, the acceptability of Short Cycle Therapy and their experience of participating in an international clinical trial. This was of the first qualitative, social science, studies in Uganda to examine young people’s adherence experiences over time. The study is embedded within a ground-breaking international clinical trial, BREATHER, conducted by the Paediatric European Network for the Treatment of AIDS (PENTA) and Medical Research Council (MRC) in 12 countries including the UK, which is testing the efficacy of the short cycle therapy (five days on ART, two days off) as an adherence intervention in 160 young people. The study ran in...