Table 2 Knowledge and beliefs about interactions and impact on adherence
Categories | N | Segment |
|---|---|---|
Ignorance of ART-drug interactions | 14 | No, I had not considered the issue of drugs, I mean, I bear in mind the fact that drugs are not good(!), otherwise I do not think that they would be prohibited. I mean the damage they can do at the level… at the level of memory, and the level of intelligence, and all that. But the truth is that I never considered the subject of interactions… (Interview V-3) |
Beliefs about ART-drug interactionsa | ||
Negative consequences | ||
Interactive toxicity beliefs | 11 | It’s like I said earlier, it is chemistry. That is, chemistry with chemistry, well bad things can happen… (Interview S-4). What could happen? It’s like the movie… the first film of Batman, the Joker’s combination of products, if you get the bad combination, you can die. Also, it depends on each body (Interview B-2) |
Decreased effectiveness of ART | 9 | Well, I imagine that defenses would decrease, anyway… ART would somehow eventually stop being effective (Interview S-5). |
Absence of negative consequences | 4 | I think there is no problem when you take drugs with medication (Interview V-5) |
Perception of threat or vulnerability | ||
Perception of threat to health | 11 | Well,. sometimes I say: you gotta die of something! You know? (laughs). And sometimes I say we must live! And sometimes I say… I don’t know… Well! In the long term, it must leave its mark, no?… (Interview M-1) |
Absence of perception of health risk | 8 | Nothing… I don’t notice anything at all. The effects of the drugs are exactly the same as those I had before having HIV and before taking treatment… Because in the months that I have been… in the years I’ve been in treatment, I have taken drugs at the same time, and my levels all have continued to be OK (Interview S-2) |
Minimization or relativization of the risk | 2 | …Will it have interactions? The same as if you take three coffees and then you do not sleep at night, you know? I mean: it has interactions, well, yes, for the same reason, because it’s chemistry with chemistry and that cannot be good. But very, very, serious interactions, maybe you have to be very, very addicted to drugs… I am not very, very addicted, although I consume many types… (Interview S-4) |