The impact of the AIDS drug assistance program (ADAP) on use of highly active antiretroviral and antihypertensive therapy among HIV-infected women

Objectives: To evaluate the association between enrollment into an AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and antihypertensive therapy. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of data were performed on HAART-eligible women enrolled in the California (n = 439), Illinois (n = 168), and New York (n = 487) Women's Interagency HIV Study sites. A subset of HIV-infected women with hypertension (n = 395) was also analyzed. Unadjusted and adjusted backward stepwise elimination logistic regression measured the association between demographic, behavioral, and health service factors and nonuse of HAART or antihypertensive medication. Results: In adjusted analysis of HAART nonuse, women without ADAP were significantly more likely not to use HAART (odds ratio [OR], 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-3.7) than women with ADAP. In adjusted analysis of antihypertensive medication nonuse, women without ADAP had an increased but not significant odds of antihypertensive medication nonuse (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 0.93-6.0) than women with ADAP. Conclusions: Government-funded programs for prescription drug coverage such as ADAP may play an important role in how HIV-positive women access and use essential medications for chronic diseases.