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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