HIV Medication Adherence among People Living with HIV in Latvia

The goal of the study was to assess adherence to antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in Latvia, as well as to explore barriers and facilitators to adherence from both patients’ and experts’ perspectives. Data were collected from 27 November 2024 to 21 August 2025 through a mixed-methods design. The quantitative part consisted of 375 questionnaires, of which 372 were valid after excluding respondents not meeting inclusion criteria or with missing adherence data, collected from 27 November 2024 to 27 June 2025. The questionnaire included questions on demographic information, adherence measured with the Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire (SMAQ), and self-reported reasons for missed doses. The questionnaire also included items on tuberculosis, designed for another study. The qualitative part included 20 semi-structured interviews with PLWHIV about their experiences with HIV, challenges, and strategies related to adherence, and 12 interviews with doctors and experts regarding adherence and their professional experience in the HIV field, collected from 17 April 2025 to 21 August 2025. The study was funded by the National Research Program “Public Health 2023–2025” under the project “New Knowledge and Approaches to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance, Limit the Spread of HIV, and Expand Community Vaccination Coverage” (VPP-VM-Sabiedrības_Veselība-2023/5-0001).