Enhanced Adherence Counselling (EAC) via Phone: A Strategy to Improve the Effectiveness and Timeliness of EAC Enrollment and Completion among Persons Living with HIV at Nkwen Baptist Hospital, Cameroon
Eugene Chiabi, Godlove Nkuoh, Ignatius Cheng Ndong, Juskalyd Ngoy Kayaya Nshimba, Bereynuy Jude Cholong, Esther Bonje Kuni, Eveline Mboh Kahn, Albert Bakor Beteck, Pius Tih Muffih.
Introduction: We aimed to assess the timeliness and effectiveness of phone-based enhanced adherence counselling (EAC) sessions among people living with HIV with high viral load compared to in-person sessions.
Method: This was a hospital-based retrospective cohort study conducted among 2 groups of randomly selected people living with HIV on ART having a high viral load (>1000 copies/ml) from October 2020 to September 2022. One group of participants included 100 participants who had received ≥1 EAC session by phone and the second group involved 100 participants that had received 3 EAC sessions physically. Proportions of viral re-suppression and average time to enrollment and completion were computed and using logistic regression predictors of re-suppression were identified using SPPS version 24.0.
Result: Participants that received EAC phone sessions had 69% viral re-suppression and 67% re-suppression was achieved for patients that received 3 EAC sessions in-person. Mean time to enrollment for participants that received phone EAC sessions was about 10 days and 23 days for participants, that received only in-person EAC sessions. Average time to EAC completion for participants received phone EAC sessions was 119 days whereas average time to EAC completion for in-person sessions was 130 days. Participants on first line ART regimen were 5 times more likely to be suppressed compared with those on second line, p ≤ 0.001, AOR=5, (95% CI:2.5, 10.6).
Conclusion: Phone-based EAC is a feasible and effective strategy to reach people far away away from health facilities and in communities where people are frequently displaced.
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