Adherence among HIV-positive injection drug users undergoing methadone treatment in Taiwan

Abstract

Aims: The study aims were to investigate adherence to methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and to identify associated clinical factors in patients who inject drugs diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Taiwan. Methods: Data were from the National Health Surveillance System on HIV and the National Drug Treatment System on MMT. HIV-positive people who inject drugs (HIVPWID) were defined as the study population. Information obtained included age, sex, education, marital status, employment, methadone dose, and date of diagnosis of HIV infection. Adherence was defined as taking methadone for the past 90, 180 and 365 days, then categorized as high (> 90%), moderate (51 to 90%), or low (