B - 85 Medication Adherence in People Living with HIV: Analyzing Performance-Based Medication Management in Relation to Cognition and Real-World Adherence

Abstract Objective This study investigates relationships among neuropsychological functioning, medication management performance, and viral load in people living with HIV. We hypothesize that cognitive impairment, particularly in attention/working memory, executive function, and episodic memory, will negatively influence medication management and virologic control. Methods Participants in this cross-sectional study were 29 HIV+ adults (ages 44–71, 90% Black) receiving cART and enrolled in the Temple/Drexel Comprehensive NeuroHIV Center (CNHC) cohort. Participants completed neuropsychological assessments, Medication Management Test-Revised (MMT-R), and blood sample collection. Linear regression examined cognitive domains as predictors of MMT-R performance. Logistic and linear regression examined cognition and MMT-R as predictors of viral load. Results 64% of participants had undetectable HIV RNA. The remainder had low-level viral replication. 89% were prescribed one-pill-a-day regimens. Verbal memory was positively associated with MMT-R (b = 0.60, p = 0.023). Neither cognition nor MMT-R were significant predictors of detectable vs. undetectable RNA. Among participants with detectable viral load, higher RNA was associated significantly with poorer visuospatial memory (b = 0.69, p = 0.028) and marginally with poorer performance on the MMT-R daily regimen subscale (b = 0.56, p = 0.094). Conclusion Verbal memory was related to better MMT-R performance, but neither cognition nor MMT-R were good predictors of detectable vs. undetectable viral load. However, among those with low-level viral replication, poorer visuospatial memory and difficulty with simple MMT-R items were preliminarily related to higher viral load. Given the small sample, results are limited by low statistical power. Future research will further explore relationships among cognition, MMT-R, RNA, and regimen complexity in larger samples to inform development of tools to monitor adherence difficulties.