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. 2025 Apr 17;25(1):1450.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22579-6.

Experiences and perceptions on antiretroviral therapy adherence and non-adherence: a scoping review of young people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

Tamlyn Carmin Seunanden  1   2 , Nothando Ngwenya  3   4 , Janet Seeley  3   4   5
Affiliations

Experiences and perceptions on antiretroviral therapy adherence and non-adherence: a scoping review of young people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

Tamlyn Carmin Seunanden et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Young people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) shoulder a disproportionate burden of global HIV. We conducted a scoping review to map the research on the experiences and perceptions of young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in SSA to inform future research.

Methods: Following scoping review guidelines, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost including Academic Search Complete, APA PsycInfo, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Medline with Full-text, Scopus and ScienceDirect for papers on YPLHIV adhering and not adhering to ART in SSA. We included literature published between 1 January 2010 and 30 September 2022. Search terms employed were adherence, non-adherence, and related synonyms. Bibliometric data and themes describing factors influencing the experiences and perceptions of ART adherence and non-adherence were extracted.

Results: Of the 2671 papers identified, 22 papers from 12 countries were included. Studies employed quantitative (3), mixed (6), and qualitative (13) methods. Most publications concentrated on barriers to adherence rather than enablers. Factors affecting ART adherence and non-adherence were psychosocial, emotional, self-management, support, financial and structural. YPLHIV also faced problems with the responsiveness of health services and access to information.

Conclusions: We identified multiple factors surrounding ART adherence and non-adherence impacting the health and wellbeing of YPLHIV. The review findings showed the importance of research to improve the understanding of the relationships that YPLHIV in SSA develop with ART in adolescence and factors that facilitate adherence. Psychosocial adherence support and patient-centred care approaches are required.

Keywords: Adherence; Antiretroviral therapy; Experiences; Non-adherence; Perceptions; Sub-saharan Africa; Young People Living with HIV.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of selection process
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