“Cure” Versus “Clinical Remission”: The Impact of a Medication Description on the Willingness of People Living with HIV to Take a Medication

Ilona Fridman, Peter A. Ubel, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Cameron V. England, Judith S. Currier, Nir Eyal, Kenneth A. Freedberg, Scott D. Halpern, Colleen F. Kelley, Daniel R. Kuritzkes, Catherine N. Le, Jeffrey L. Lennox, Kathryn I. Pollak, Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, Karen A. Scherr

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2054-2061
Number of pages8
JournalAIDS and behavior
Volume24
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2020
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Infectious Diseases

Keywords

  • Behavior
  • Cure
  • Decision-making
  • HIV
  • PLWHIV
  • Remission

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