ISSN: 2161-1165

Epidemiology: Open Access
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  • Research Article   
  • Epidemiol 2014, Vol 4(1): 142
  • DOI: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000142

An Educational Intervention with Hispanic HIV Infected Patients: A Randomized Study

Jose G Castro1*, Drenna Waldrop-Valverde2 and Eduardo E Valverde3
1Department of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, USA
2Associate Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
3Epidemiologist, Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, , 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
*Corresponding Author : Jose G Castro, Department of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, USA, Tel: 305-243-4000, Email: jcastro2@med.miami.edu

Received Date: Nov 05, 2013 / Accepted Date: Dec 19, 2013 / Published Date: Dec 21, 2013

Abstract

Background: Patient’s knowledge of their disease has been associated with better ART adherence however, little is known on the effects of increased knowledge on health outcomes in Hispanics. We tested the ability of a structured, culturally sensitive Educational Intervention (EI) to improve HIV knowledge and clinical outcomes of Hispanic HIV patients.

Methods: 400 Hispanic HIV positive patients were enrolled from HIV clinics in Miami; FL. Patients were randomized to a Standard of Care (SOC) HIV management and SOC plus the EI. The EI consisted of 3 two-hour modules delivered over 12 weeks. HIV knowledge and CD4 cell counts were assessed at baseline and 6 months post-baseline.

Results: Repeated measures analysis of covariance, adjusted for education and employment, indicated a significant interaction between the intervention and HIV knowledge at 6 months post-intervention [p<0.001] and showed that the intervention group had significantly higher knowledge scores than the control group post-intervention. Multivariate analysis, adjusted for antiretroviral use, showed a significant interaction between the intervention and CD4 cell counts [p<0.03] suggesting that CD4 counts increased at a significantly greater rate at 6-month follow-up for those in the intervention group. Post-intervention HIV knowledge was significantly related to post-intervention CD4 counts [p<0.05].

Discussion: These findings indicate that a culturally tailored intervention to increase HIV knowledge for Hispanic HIV patients successfully improved HIV knowledge and may be related to improved rates of CD4 increases over time. The sustainability of these improvements over time for this population needs further study.

Keywords: HIV; AIDS; Hispanics; Educational

Citation: Castro JG, Waldrop-Valverde D, Valverde EE (2013) An EducationalIntervention with Hispanic HIV Infected Patients: A Randomized Study. Epidemiol 4:142. doi:10.4172/2161-1165.1000142 Doi: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000142

Copyright: © 2013 Castro JG, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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