Analyzing the effects of food supplementation and adherence support on food insecurity, time allocation, and quality of life indices of patients on antiretroviral treatment in the Free State Province, South Africa
Faculty associate Alok Bharghava has received an MPRC seed grant for a new project analyzing a longitudinal data set from a randomized controlled trial in Free State Province, South Africa involving over 600 AIDS patients receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). South Africa is facing one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, and Free State Province is one of the poorest regions of the country, with the highest prevalence rates of HIV infection. Many households in this region are also food insecure. The potential benefits of antiretroviral treatment combined with treatment adherence support and food supplements in Free State Province are enormous, with potential improvements in the health status of infected individuals as well as in labor productivity and children’s school participation.
Dr. Bhargava will use econometric techniques to analyze previously collected data from 600 HIV-positive individuals receiving different combinations of antiretroviral treatment, adherence support, and food supplementation at clinics in Free State Province. He will model the effects of adherence support and food supplementation on patients’ plasma HIV RNA levels, CD4 cell count, and quality of life indices. He hopes to learn whether individuals’ adherence to antiretroviral treatment and improvements in health status are influenced by adherence support and food supplementation that they receive, and whether antiretroviral treatment improves individuals’ productivity and time allocation patterns and raises the welfare of other household members, including children. He will also investigate whether individual adherence to antiretroviral treatment is influenced by other factors such as socioeconomic characteristics of patients, gender, stigma, and rules governing eligibility of disability grants.
The findings from this project will be useful for formulating health and economic policies for enhancing antiretroviral treatment patients’ well-being and productivity in sub-Saharan African countries.