Motives for change of first-line antiretroviral therapy regimens in an unselected cohort of HIV/AIDS patients at a major referral centre in South-west Cameroon.

OBJECTIVE: The rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage in sub-Saharan Africa has encountered the challenge of maintaining international clinical standards of ART utilization and change of ART regimens. In Cameroon, scarce reports have documented the motives for change of ART. This study had as objective to investigate the reasons for switch in ART through a secondary analysis and descriptive synthesis of data from a cross-sectional study at the Limbe Regional Hospital.

RESULTS: One hundred participants were included. Their mean age was 40.2 ± 8.0 years and 70% of them were females. The median duration of ART use was 60 months. Zidovudine-Lamivudine-Nevirapine regimen was received by 83% of patients while the Stavudine-Lamivudine-Nevirapine regimen had the highest median duration of use (58 months). Most patients had experienced changes in ART (especially from Stavudine-Lamivudine-Nevirapine regimen) with the chief reason being unavailability of their previous regimens. Four patients had their ART changed due to active tuberculosis, 4 due to pregnancy and 7 due to ART toxicity (4 and 3 for peripheral neuropathy and lipodystrophy respectively). In conclusion, shortages in ART hugely influenced switch in regimens. In such a context, modifications in ART possibly deviate from guidelines with resultant sub-optimal therapy and enhanced drug resistance.