Hammitt, James K., Murray, B.R, Kratka, A., Scherr, K.A., Eyal, N., Blumenthal-Barby, J., Freedberg, K., Kuritzkes, D.R., Edifor, R., Katz, M.N., Pollak, K., Zikmund-Fisher, B.J., Halpern, S.D, Barks, M.C. and Ubel, P.A. (2019) What Risk of Death Would People Take to be Cured of HIV, and Why? A Survey of People Living With HIV. Journal of Virus Eradication (n° 5). pp. 109-115.

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Abstract

People living with HIV (PLWHIV) can reasonably expect near-normal longevity, yet many express a willingness to assume significant risks to be cured. We surveyed 200 PLWHIV who were stable on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to quantify associations between the benefits they anticipate from a cure and their risk tolerance for curative treatments. Sixty-five per cent expected their health to improve if cured of HIV, 41% predicted the virus would stop responding to medications over the next 20 years and 54% predicted experiencing serious medication side effects in the next 20 years. Respondents’ willingness to risk death for a cure varied widely (median 10%, 75th percentile 50%). In multivariate analyses, willingness to risk death was associated with expected long-term side effects of ART, greater financial resources and being employed (all P < 0.05) but was not associated with perceptions of how their health would improve if cured.