High anti-retroviral therapy adherence, a major predictor of HIV disease progression and survival, has lower healthcare costs, U.S. researchers say.

BALTIMORE, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- High anti-retroviral therapy adherence, a major predictor of HIV disease progression and survival, has lower healthcare costs, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore found that anti-retroviral therapy improves health outcomes for people infected with HIV, saving a net overall median monthly healthcare cost of $85 per patient.

"Our analysis found that greater anti-retroviral therapy adherence was associated with lower direct healthcare costs for HIV-infected adults who received care through a large HIV/AIDS disease management program in South Africa," lead author Dr. Jean B. Nachega of the Bloomberg School of Public Health and director of the Center for Infectious Disease at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa, says in a statement.

"Cost for hospitalization increased from 29 percent to 51 percent of total costs as anti-retroviral therapy adherence decreased, and this increase explains the difference in total mean monthly healthcare costs from the lowest to the highest anti-retroviral therapy adherence quartile."

The study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.