Introduction There are 36.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the world. Among them, 34.3 million are adults, and 17.4 million are women (1). According to the Turkish Ministry of Health's National HIV Registry, about 17,000 people are living with the HIV infection in Turkey. However, due to the long latency, lack of adequate target population testing, and inadequate registry systems, this number may not be robust (2). From 2001 to 2013, the annual number of new HIV infections declined by 38% globally, followed by a significant decline in AIDS-related deaths. However, trends in new infections have differed among regions and countries (3), and the number of new HIV diagnoses increased 450% after 2012 in Turkey (2). There is no cure for HIV infection. Nonetheless, antiretroviral treatment (ART) can be implemented to overcome the infection-associated adverse outcomes (4,5). ART is the cornerstone of management of PLWHA. Widespread use of ART led to a decrease in the incidence of HIV/AIDS-related mortality both in the developed and developing world (6). Furthermore, ART improves the quality of life and prolongs the life expectancy (7). Medication adherence is defined as ''the act of conforming to the recommendations made by the provider with respect to timing, dosage, and frequency of medication taking'' (8). Besides the availability of ART, medication adherence must be at least 90% to suppress HIV replication (9-11). Medication adherence is crucial in maintaining therapeutic drug levels, ensuring virologic suppression, reducing drug resistance (12), preventing immunologic decay from HIV, and, especially, reducing the risk of HIV transmission (13). Variation in medication adherence has been reported among PLWHA by various studies. Data from Georgia, Iran, Russia, and Greece suggested that the proportion of the adherent PLWHA was 79.0%, 63.9%, 82.0%, and 81.8%, respectively (14-17). A small and older study composed of 36 PLWHA from Turkey found the ART adherence rate as 38.9% (18). Background/aim: Widespread use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) has led to decrease in the incidence of HIV/AIDS-related mortality. Besides the availability of ART, medication adherence is essential for treatment success. There is a scarcity of data reported from Turkey regarding ART adherence among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine medication adherence and related factors among PLWHA in Turkey. Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 158 PLWHA, who were being followed up at Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic of Hacettepe University Hospital. Data were collected using an individual questionnaire and the Turkish version of the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Results: The median patient age was 38 years, 80.4% were male, and 51.3% were married. The median duration of both HIV infection and ART was 3 years. Sixty-one percent used two drug regimens. Sixty-one percent were highly adherent to ART while 37.9% were moderately adherent. The absence/presence of social sup...
