Influence of Age and Gender on Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among Persons Living With HIV/AIDS in Benue State.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that age and gender have on the degree to which individuals 
living with HIV/AIDS in Benue State adhere to antiretroviral treatment therapy (ART). Specific aims and 
hypotheses served as the guiding principles for the investigation. The research was conducted using a descriptive 
survey approach, and it included four hundred people who were living with HIV. These individuals were chosen 
through a multistage sampling process from a population of fifty-two thousand three hundred people spread out 
among twenty-three Local Government Areas in the state. A reliable 42-item questionnaire (PDVAARTQ) with a 
Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.723 was utilised in order to obtain the data on the questionnaire. At a 
significance level of 0.05, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and chi-square tests were utilised in order to 
conduct the analysis of the data. Females and males did not differ significantly in their adherence to antiretroviral 
therapy (ART) according to the findings (t = -0.066, p = 0.948 > 0.05). On the other hand, females demonstrated 
adherent behaviour that was somewhat higher than that of males, with a mean difference of 0.041. For the age 
component, there was not a significant connection discovered between age and adherence to antiretroviral therapy 
(r = -0.057, p = 0.253 > 0.05), which indicates that there is a weak relationship between the two 
parameters.Although gender may have a marginal impact on adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), the 
findings of the study indicate that age does not appear to have a major affect. Among the recommendations is the 
establishment of all-encompassing support systems inside healthcare facilities in order to address the issues that 
influence adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART).