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

Overview

Journal AIDS Behav

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2020 Jan 5

PMID 31900813

Citations 4

Authors

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

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

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.

Citing Articles

The Importance of Social Engagement in the Development of an HIV Cure: A Systematic Review of Stakeholder Perspectives.

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The perceived impact of an HIV cure by people living with HIV and key populations vulnerable to HIV in the Netherlands: A qualitative study.

Romijnders K, de Groot L, Vervoort S, Basten M, van Welzen B, Kretzschmar M J Virus Erad. 2022; 8(1):100066.

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Framing a Consent Form to Improve Consent Understanding and Determine How This Affects Willingness to Participate in HIV Cure Research: An Experimental Survey Study.

Sauceda J, Dube K, Brown B, Perez A, Rivas C, Evans D J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2020; 16(1-2):78-87.

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Gain-loss framing and patients' decisions: a linguistic examination of information framing in physician-patient conversations.

Fridman I, Fagerlin A, Scherr K, Scherer L, Huffstetler H, Ubel P J Behav Med. 2020; 44(1):38-52.

PMID: 32725580 DOI: 10.1007/s10865-020-00171-0.

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