1. “Cure” Versus “Clinical Remission”: The Impact of a Medication Description on the Willingness of People Living with HIV to Take a Medication
- Author
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Fridman, Ilona, Ubel, Peter A, Blumenthal-Barby, Jennifer, England, Cameron V, Currier, Judith S, Eyal, Nir, Freedberg, Kenneth A, Halpern, Scott D, Kelley, Colleen F, Kuritzkes, Daniel R, Le, Catherine N, Lennox, Jeffrey L, Pollak, Kathryn I, Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J, and Scherr, Karen A
- Subjects
Public Health ,Health Sciences ,Clinical Research ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities ,HIV/AIDS ,Evaluation of treatments and therapeutic interventions ,6.1 Pharmaceuticals ,Decision Making ,Drug Therapy ,Female ,HIV Infections ,Humans ,Intention ,Male ,Middle Aged ,Patients ,Research Personnel ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Behavior ,Cure ,Decision-making ,HIV ,PLWHIV ,Remission ,Public Health and Health Services ,Social Work ,Public health - Abstract
Many people living with HIV (PLWHIV) state that they would be willing to take significant risks to be "cured" of the virus. However, how they interpret the word "cure" in this context is not clear. We used a randomized survey to examine whether PLWHIV had a different willingness to take a hypothetical HIV medication if it causes flu-like symptoms, but provides: (a) cure, (b) remission that was labeled "cure", or (c) remission. PLWHIV (n = 454) were more willing to take a medication that provided a "cure" versus a "remission" if the side effects lasted less than 1 year. PLWHIV were more willing to take a medication that provided a remission that was labeled "cure" versus a "remission" (p = 0.01) if the side effects lasted 2 weeks. Clinicians and researchers should be aware of the impact of the word "cure" and ensure that PLWHIV fully understand the possible outcomes of their treatment options.
- Published
- 2020