Stress and Drug Adherence Among HIV Adolescents of Kagadi Hospital In Kagadi Sub -County Kibaale District

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to assess how stress affects adherence of drugs among HIV positive adolescents in Kagadi Sub County Kibaale District Uganda. The study was guided by three specific objectives and these include; i) To examine the level of stress among HIV positive adolescents in Kagadi Sub - County Kibaale District Uganda, ii) to find out the level of drug adherence, among HIV positive adolescents in Kagadi Sub County Kibaale District Uganda and iii) to find out if there is a significant relationship between stress and dug adherence among positive adolescents in Kagadi Sub - County Kibaale District Uganda. The study employed a descriptive correlation design that used both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and a sample size of 80 respondents was selected out of 100, A standardized questionnaire of a four likert scale was used, where 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree,3agree and 4=strongly agree. The study findings revealed that the Level of stress among l-llV positive adolescents was generally very often , and level of drug adherence was often on six categories and that is You have not missed taking your drugs (mean= 3.24.), You have not missed taking yOur drugs (mean3.41), You have someone to remind you about taking ARVs (mean =3.18), You are able take your drugs in right time (mean3.14) You are able to take ARVS around other People despite the fact that they are not on ARVS (mean3.14) and You freely interact with your friends despite the fact that you are on ARVS and they are comfortable with it (mean = 3.10).Further still, only one category was rated very often and that is You were counseled about adherence before taking ARVs(mean 3.34 18) and the last category was rated rare, You are able to share with friends about your experience of being on ARVS (mean 2.99), The findings also indicate that stress and drug adherence positively correlated and A conclusion was made that an improvement in stress management strategies program is likely to increase the level of adherence at 95% level of significance. The study recommends that there is need to sensitize HIV positive adolescents to adopt stress management strategies, despite the fact that they are stigmatized. There is need to uplift the educational level of FIIV positive adolescents since most of them were in S5 and S6.