Profile of antiretroviral agents use in Colombia

• Published in: Biomédica Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 527 - 533
• Main Authors: Machado-Alba, Jorge E, Atehortua-Otero, Miguel A, Cortés-Mejía, Diego A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colombia Instituto Nacional de Salud 01-12-2018
• Subjects: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; antiretroviral therapy; drug prescriptions; highly active; pharmacoepidemiology; drug prescriptions; antiretroviral therapy, highly active; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; pharmacoepidemiology
• ISSN: 0120-4157; 0120-4157
• DOI: 10.7705/BIOMEDICA.V38I4.3885

Since the beginning of the epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has taken more than 36 million lives.
To determine the antiretroviral drug prescription patterns in a population of individuals with HIV infection in Colombia.
Cross-sectional study analyzing the profiles of patients treated with antiretroviral drugs between April 1st and September 30th, 2015. The sociodemographic, pharmacological, and comorbidity variables were identified. Individuals with a positive diagnosis of HIV of all ages and both genders were included.
We found 641 patients with a mean age of 39.0±17 years who were predominantly male (60.2%). The most used medications were lamivudine-zidovudine (51.6%), lopinavir-ritonavir (36%) and efavirenz (24.5%). The combination of lamivudine-zidovudine plus lopinavir-ritonavir was the most prescribed regimen (29.5%), but a total of 80 different regimens was identified. Being an adult between the ages of 45-64 years (OR=2.25; 95%CI 1.367-3.713) was associated with a greater probabilityof receiving 4 or more antiretrovirals. A total of 267 (41.6%) patients used at least one comedication (range: 1-18 drugs), especially anti-ulcer (57.3%), lipid-lowering (28.8%) and anti-hypertensive (28.5%) drugs.
Patients undergoing antiretroviral treatment are receiving medications with elevated intrinsic values at the recommended doses and present comorbidities associated with chronic agerelated conditions. However, these patients receive a great variety of regimens that are not included in the clinical practice guidelines.