A Prospective Study to Evaluate Prescription Pattern of Second Line Antiretroviral Therapy Given to HIV Patients

Aims: To evaluate prescription pattern during second line Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) at tertiary care hospital. Despite a very large number of patient being covered under ART, there are limited data in Indian population regarding second line ART. Therefore, the present study was undertaken. Methods: After consultation with physician of ART plus centre, patient was interviewed and details of the patient’s case record was obtained. At each encounter on every 30 th day patient’s investigations, opportunistic infections, adherence level, associated medical conditions, second line ART and other drug prescription was recorded in preformed case record form for the study. Results: Out of 70 patients, 16 patients [22.86%] had history of 2 nd line ART from Private ART clinics and 54 patients [77.14%] were transferred from other government ART centers. Mean time to switching from first line to second line ART was 3.67±2.29 years in 63 patients. Most common ART regimen prescribed at the initiation of second line ART was tenofovir+ lamivudine+ atazanavir /ritonavir in 45 patients [64.29%] with 264 encounters. Most common opportunistic infection was ARI [recurrent respiratory infection] with 28.84% incidence. Conclusion: Irrational practice by private hospitals limits treatment options with increasing the chances of drug resistance. On the other hand NACO sponsored second line ART was given with a proper treatment protocol causes good compliance in patients. Key words: Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Antiretroviral Therapy, Prescription pattern, Adherence, NACO.