2012 Accomplishments for CHAT and CHAR
Coping and Health in Tanzania (CHAT) is a four-year longitudinal study following a cohort of 1,200 HIV-negative and HIV-positive adults in Moshi, Tanzania, to assess various factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Study participants have been interviewed every six months beginning in 2008, and HIV-positive individuals also undergo viral load testing. In 2012, the following study activities occurred:
- Round 7 interviews were completed and the last Round of interviews (Round 8) began.
- Two stakeholder meetings were held in Moshi, Tanzania, in February 2012 and November 2012, and were attended by members of the community as well as local clinical staff and policymakers.
- In April 2012, Kristin Johnson (Economics doctoral student) presented CHAT data from her doctoral dissertation called “Subjective Expectations and Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment: Evidence from Tanzania” at the annual Society of Behavioral Medicine meeting in New Orleans.
- In May 2012, Dr. Pence (DGHI faculty) published a paper describing CHAT data in PLoS ONE, titled “Prevalence of Psychological Trauma and Association with Current Health and Functioning in a Sample of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Tanzanian Adults”
- Elizabeth Reddy (DGHI faculty) presented a poster titled, “The Loliondo phenomenon: Reduced adherence to antiretroviral therapy following mass visits to ‘Babu wa Loliondo’ in Tanzania” at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, in June 2012
- A one-year supplemental grant was awarded in September 2012 to conduct a pilot study in St. Petersburg, Russia, with 500 HIV-positive patients to explore the psychosocial determinants of HIV medication adherence, retention in care, transmission risk behaviors, and disease progression. This grant will collect similar data to those being collected in Tanzania for CHAT.
- In December 2012, Nadya Belenky (UNC Master’s student, epidemiology) presented her Master’s thesis describing CHAT data on depression, stigma, and adherence to ART to faculty at UNC.
The CHAR Study – Coping with HIV and AIDS in Russia one-year supplemental grant was awarded in September 2012 to conduct a pilot study in St. Petersburg, Russia, with 500 HIV-positive patients to explore the psychosocial determinants of HIV medication adherence, retention in care, transmission risk behaviors, and disease progression. This grant will collect similar data to those being collected in the Coping and Health in Tanzania (CHAT) study. CHAT is a four-year longitudinal study following a cohort of 1,200 HIV-negative and HIV-positive adults in Moshi, Tanzania, to assess various factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Elizabeth Reddy (DGHI faculty) presented a poster titled, “The Loliondo phenomenon: Reduced adherence to antiretroviral therapy following mass visits to ‘Babu wa Loliondo’ in Tanzania” at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, in June 2012.
Publications & Presentations
- In May 2012, Brian Pence (DGHI faculty) published a paper describing CHAT data in PLoS ONE, titled “Prevalence of Psychological Trauma and Association with Current Health and Functioning in a Sample of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Tanzanian Adults”
- ABSTRACT: This study is the first to our knowledge in an HIV population from a low income nation to report the prevalence of a range of potentially traumatic life experiences compared to a matched community sample and to show that trauma history is associated with poorer health-related physical functioning. Our findings underscore the importance of considering psychosocial characteristics when planning to meet the health needs of PLWHA in low income countries.
- There are several other manuscripts in preparation or under review