Background: Mental health disorders such as high levels of anxiety, isolation, depression and suicide ideation reported among young people living with HIV (10–24 years;YPLHIV) contribute significantly to poor medication adherence and retention in care. While there is evidence supporting the role of psychosocial support interventions in promoting adherence and retention in antiretroviral treatment (ART) among adults living with HIV, there is little evidence on the role of psychosocial support on medication adherence among YPLHIV. This scoping review was designed to identify and classify the types and effects of psychosocial support interventions designed to improve adherence and retention in ART among YPLHIV globally. Method: We searched six electronic databases (i.e., Scopus, Pubmed and EBSCOHost (Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Psycarticles and Medline). Six relevant articles published between 2011 and 2019 met our inclusion criteria. We extracted information relevant to the nature and outcomes of the reported interventions using thematic content analysis informed by the Population, Intervention, comparison, outcome, and time (PICOT) framework. Results: Four distinctive treatment modalities that focused on improving ART adherence and retention in care were identified: individual counselling, support groups, family-centered services, and treatment supporters. Conclusion: There is a dearth of psychosocial support interventions to improve adherence and retention in ART amongst adolescents and young adults living with HIV. Future research and programming should seek to address psychosocial support interventions or approaches specifically designed to address the needs of YPLHIV. Trial registration: PROSPERO: Registration CRD42018105057.

With improved access to antiretroviral treatment (ART), adults with HIV live longer to reach older age. The number of older adults living with HIV is increasing steadily, giving rise to a new population of interest in HIV research and for invigorated considerations in health service delivery and policy. We analysed the profile of comorbidities in older people (50 years and older) living with HIV in South Africa. We conducted a secondary analysis of all individuals over 15 years who tested HIV positive in the Fifth South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, 2017. We conducted multivariate logistic regression to determine the factors associated with having HIV comorbidity using Stata 15.0 software. We entered 3755 people living with HIV into the analysis, of whom 18.3% (n = 688) were 50 years or older. Older adults had four times greater odds (OR = 4.7 (3.1–7.0)) of having an HIV comorbidity compared to younger adults. Being female (OR = 1.6 (1.1–2.4)) and living in an urban area (OR = 2.6 (1.8–3.7)) increased the odds of HIV comorbidity. Older adults with HIV require comprehensive health care to deal with multimorbidity, to maximise the benefits gained by advances in HIV therapies.

Background: Despite the successful rollout of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and steep declines in HIV incidence in South Africa, this has not been the case for adolescents (10–19 years). Adolescents on HIV treatment have lower rates of viral load suppression and adherence compared to adults and children.Objectives: This article reports on the adherence challenges faced by adolescents receiving ART in a primary health care clinic in a low socio-economic urban setting in Cape Town.Method: An exploratory qualitative design was employed where data were collected through four focus group discussions with adolescents (n = 15) who received ART at a primary health care clinic in a low socio-economic urban setting in Cape Town and followed up with eight individual, semi-structured interviews with two adolescents from each focus group. Two key informant interviews were conducted with health workers at the clinic. Audio data were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using content analysis.Results: School commitments, strained teacher–learner relationships, negative household dynamics and ill treatment by non-biological caregivers were reported as major barriers to adherence. In addition, poor service delivery, missing or misplaced files and long waiting times came under major criticism. Fear of unintended disclosure of HIV status, stigma and discrimination, treatment fatigue and having unstructured lives negatively influenced adherence. Having a strong social support system and having life goals and ambitions were motivators to remain adherent.Conclusion: This study highlighted the complexity of ART adherence in the midst of juggling school, home life and personal life goals and aspirations. Interventions to improve adherence should address psychosocial factors such as treatment fatigue, disclosure and family and household dynamics, in addition to streamlining service delivery between the school and clinic.

Poor retention in care and suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART) undermine its successful rollout in South Africa. The adherence club intervention was designed as an adherence-enhancing intervention to enhance the retention in care of patients on ART and their adherence to medication. Although empirical evidence suggests the effective superiority of the adherence club intervention to standard clinic ART care schemes, it is poorly understood exactly how and why it works, and under what health system contexts. To this end, we aimed to develop a refined programme theory explicating how, why, for whom and under what health system contexts the adherence club intervention works (or not). We undertook a realist evaluation study to uncover the programme theory of the adherence club intervention. We elicited an initial programme theory of the adherence club intervention and tested the initial programme theory in three contrastive sites. Using a cross-case analysis approach, we delineated the conceptualisation of the intervention, context, actor and mechanism components of the three contrastive cases to explain the outcomes of the adherence club intervention, guided by retroductive inferencing. We found that an intervention that groups clinically stable patients on ART in a convenient space to receive a quick and uninterrupted supply of medication, health talks, counselling, and immediate access to a clinician when required works because patients’ self-efficacy improves and they become motivated and nudged to remain in care and adhere to medication. The successful implementation and rollout of the adherence club intervention are contingent on the separation of the adherence club programme from other patients who are HIV-negative. In addition, there should be available convenient space for the adherence club meetings, continuous support of the adherence club facilitators by clinicians and buy-in from the health workers at the health-care facility and the community. Understanding what aspects of antiretroviral club intervention works, for what sections of the patient population, and under which community and health systems contexts, could inform guidelines for effective implementation in different contexts and scaling up of the intervention to improve population-level ART adherence.

Objectives To review prevalence studies of multimorbidity in South Africa to identify prevalence estimates, common disease clusters and factors associated with multimorbidity. Design Systematic review. Setting South Africa (general community and healthcare facilities). Data sources Articles were retrieved from electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, Science Direct and JSTOR). Eligibility criteria Studies addressing the prevalence of multimorbidity in South Africa were eligible for inclusion. A systematic search was done in various databases up to December 2020. A risk of bias assessment was conducted for each article using a modified checklist. Study selection Two researchers independently screened titles and abstracts; assessed the risk of bias of each study and extracted data. Included studies were described using a narrative synthesis. Results In total, 1407 titles were retrieved; of which 10 articles were included in the narrative synthesis. Six studies had a low risk of bias and three had a moderate risk of bias. One study was not assessed for risk of bias, because there was no criteria that apply to routine health information systems. Three of the included studies were population-based surveys, four were community-based cohorts and three cross-sectional studies of health facility data. The prevalence of multimorbidity was low to moderate (3%–23%) in studies that included younger people or had a wide range of selected age groups; and moderate to high (30%–87%) in studies of older adults. The common disease clusters were hypertension and diabetes, hypertension and HIV, and TB and HIV. Conclusion All studies indicated that multimorbidity is a norm in South Africa, especially among older adults. Hypertension is the main driver of multimorbidity. Research on multimorbidity in South Africa needs to be strengthened with high-quality study designs. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020196895.

Background: Achieving undetectable viral load is crucial for the reduction of HIV transmissions, AIDS-related illnesses and death. Adolescents (10 to19 years) living with HIV (ALHIV) on antiretroviral treatment (ART) have worse treatment adherence and lower viral suppression rates compared to adults. We report on the clinical factors associated with viral suppression among ALHIV in the Ehlanzeni district, Mpumalanga in South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 9386 ALHIV, aged 10 to 19 years, who were enrolled in 136 ART clinics in the Ehlanzeni district. Clinical and immunological data were obtained from electronic medical records (Tier.net). ALHIV were categorised as having achieved viral suppression if their latest viral load count was < 1000 ribonucleic acid (RNA) copies/mL. Using a backward stepwise approach, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors independently associated with viral suppression. Results: The mean age of the participants was 14.75 years (SD = 2.9), and 55.43% were female. Mean duration on ART was 72.26 (SD = 42.3) months. Of the 9386 adolescents with viral load results recorded, 74% had achieved viral suppression. After adjusting for other covariates, the likelihood of achieving viral suppression remained significantly higher among ALHIV who were: female (AOR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.05–1.39), and had most recent CD4 count > 200 (AOR = 2.53, 95% CI 2.06–3.11). Furthermore, the likelihood of having viral suppression was lower among adolescents with CD4 count > 200 at baseline (AOR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.61–0.87), and who were switched to second line regimen (AOR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.34–0.49). Conclusions: Viral suppression amongst ALHIV at 74% is considerably lower than the WHO target of 95%. Of particular concern for intervention is the lower rates of viral suppression amongst male ALHIV. Greater emphasis should be placed to early enrolment of ALHIV on ART and keeping them engaged in care (beyond 6 months). Furthermore, improved and regular viral load monitoring will help to adequately identify and manage ALHIV with unsuppressed viral load and subsequently switching to second line treatment.