HIV Treatment Adherence Among Adolescents and Young Adults
Summary
Adolescents and young adults living with HIV represent a demographic with uniquely complex challenges in maintaining effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. During adolescence and early adulthood, individuals experience cognitive, emotional and social transitions that can complicate consistent medication intake, attendance at clinic appointments and engagement with care. Suboptimal adherence in this age group is associated with increased risk of viral rebound, drug resistance and onward transmission. Barriers span individual factors such as stigma, mental health issues and limited health literacy, through to structural determinants including poverty, unstable housing and inequitable access to youth-friendly health services. Conversely, facilitating factors include peer support, tailored counselling, reminder systems and supportive clinic environments. Advances in digital health, community-based models and differentiated care have started to bridge gaps, yet sustained viral suppression rates among young people remain lower than in older populations. A comprehensive response must integrate behavioural science, participatory design, implementation strategies and policy measures to create developmentally appropriate, scalable interventions. Understanding the interplay of individual agency and contextual influences is essential to improve health outcomes and to contribute to global efforts to end the HIV epidemic.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
HIV Treatment Adherence Among Adolescents and Young Adults publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in hiv treatment adherence among adolescents and young adults across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Antiretroviral therapy (ART): Combination medication regimens designed to suppress HIV replication, reduce viral load and prevent disease progression.
Viral suppression: The reduction of HIV in the bloodstream to levels undetectable by standard assays, associated with improved health and reduced transmission risk.
Treatment adherence: The extent to which a patient consistently follows prescribed health interventions, including medication schedules and clinic visits.
Human-centred design: A participatory approach that engages end users in the research and development process to ensure interventions are responsive to their needs.
mHealth: The use of mobile devices and digital technology to support medical and public health practices, including appointment reminders, health education and remote counselling.
References
- Structural Determinants of Antiretroviral Therapy Use, HIV Care Attendance, and Viral Suppression among Adolescents and Young Adults Living with HIV. PLOS ONE (2016).
- Human-Centered Design for Public Health Innovation: Codesigning a Multicomponent Intervention to Support Youth Across the HIV Care Continuum in Mozambique. Global Health Science and Practice (2022).
- A Mobile Health App (WYZ) for Engagement in Care and Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Youth and Young Adults Living With HIV: Single-Arm Pilot Intervention Study. JMIR Formative Research (2021).
- Video-Counseling Intervention to Address HIV Care Engagement, Mental Health, and Substance Use Challenges: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial for Youth and Young Adults Living with HIV. Telemedicine Reports (2021).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.