Medication-related factors
This overarching theme included three sub-themes: adverse events, medication benefits, and inconvenience .
Adverse events: Nearly half of the participants were complaining about the side effects of the drugs (e.g., vomiting, diarrhea, and vertigo). Some patients suffered from hallucinations and insomnia forced them to stop their medication. One participant reported that he suffered from drowsiness and after taking his medication falls asleep. Other patients refused to take their medications because of fat deposition in the abdomen area and the extremities become lean, this leads bodybuilding patients to keep away from taking drugs and the price was their life.
Medication benefits . Living a long healthy life with no fear of suffering from the complications of HIV infection was a one factor that encouraged participants to be compliant with ART therapy. Participants reported that their CD4 cell count and viral load improved after taking their therapy and their body weight becoming better. All of these benefits motivated participants to adhere to their therapy.
Inconvenience . The majority of participants reported the inconvenience of taking bills every day. Some patients had to take numerous pills every day which influenced their attitudes toward adherence. Similarly, participants who were taking one tablet daily reported inconvenience.