The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to expand globally and currently, the Caribbean has the second highest prevalence of the epidemic in the world (Organizacisn Panamericana de la Salud, 2005) after Sub-Saharan Africa. Among the states and territories of the United States, Puerto Rico proportionately has the highest number of AIDS cases and people have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004). Out of the more than 32,105 reported cases of AIDS, 62% have died (Puerto Rico, AIDS Surveillance, August, 2007.) Although the availability of ART medications has reduced the death rate from AIDS, the rate of HIV infection has not declined. Since 2003, 6,847 new cases of HIV infection have been documented in Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico, AIDS Surveillance, 2007). People living with HIV/AIDS, are confronted with physical and psychological challenges related to the disease, medication modalities, and other co-morbidities. There is evidence that people's levels of functional health literacy determine medication adherence, symptoms and symptoms management strategies among people living with HIV/AIDS (Wolf, Davis & Arozullah, 2005; Kalichman & Rompa, 2000; Kalichman, Ramachandran & Catz. 1999). This cross-sectional study propose to examining the relationship between functional health literacy and medication adherence, symptoms, and symptom self-care strategies among a group of people in Puerto Rico living with HIV/AIDS. Understanding the relationships of these variables may in turn, be used to develop knowledge and advance nursing science, specifically in relation to the care of people living with HIV/AIDS care and future designing and testing intervention studies to improve adherence to ART medications, symptoms, and self-care behaviors strategies for symptoms among people with low or marginal functional health literacy.
The specific aims of this descriptive study are to: 1. Describe the prevalence of functional health literacy levels (adequate, marginal and inadequate) among adults living with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico. 2. Determine how functional health literacy levels relate with age, gender, socioeconomic status, and level of education among adults living with HIV/AIDS. 3. Determine the relationship between functional health literacy levels and symptoms among adults living with HIV/AIDS. 4. Determine the relationship between functional health literacy and symptoms self-care behaviors strategies among adults living with HIV/AIDS. Determine how adherence to ART medication is relates with functional health literacy levels among adults living with HIV/AIDS. ? ?
Studying functional health literacy is an understudied aspect in Hispanic/Latino populations infected with HIV/AIDS. The proposed research will focus in understanding the relationships between functional health literacy, medication adherence, symptoms, and symptom self-care management in persons living with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico, to develop knowledge and advance nursing science, specifically in relation to the care of this population and the future design and testing of interventions geared to improve upon these variables. ? ? ?
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