CombinADO, a Combination Intervention Strategy to Improve Health Outcomes for Adolescents Living with HIV, Protocol #2: Understanding the Characteristics and Experiences of Adolescents Living with HIV in Nampula, Mozambique, a Mixed-methods Study

The purpose of this study was to gather data to describe the demographic, biomedical, psychosocial, and behavioral characteristics of adolescents and young adults living with HIV (AYAHIV) in Nampula, Mozambique, to inform content of the multicomponent CombinADO intervention strategy, and to pilot measures for their social contextual relevance and comprehension by participants. A convenience sample of AYAHIV and a subset of their caregivers were recruited from three government health facilities in 2019 in Nampula, Mozambique. AYAHIV 15-19 years on antiretroviral therapy (ART), including females attending antenatal care, were eligible. A total of 212 AYAHIV (15-19 years) were enrolled. All participants completed a one-time quantitative survey that included questions related to sociodemographic characteristics, educational status, health history, sexual and reproductive health, and ART adherence. Routine HIV care data were extracted from medical charts.