Introduction: Although raltegravir has been available since 2007, data are lacking on the Portuguese population living with HIV who initiated this antiretroviral therapy. Hence, this study aimed to characterize the patients who initiated raltegravir-based regimens between January 2015 and December 2017, on sociodemographics, clinical features, and treatment satisfaction.Material and Methods: Observational, retrospective, multicentre study conducted at 11 reference sites. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected retrospectively from hospital medical records. For participants continuing raltegravir at study inclusion, the HIV Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered to assess satisfaction with raltegravir-based therapy. Descriptive statistics were performed. Treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced subgroups were compared for demographic and clinical variables.Results: A total of 302 patients were included; mostly men (69.5%) with a mean age of 49 years old. Approximately half of the patients had at least one non-AIDS-related comorbidity at baseline (53.3%), such as hypercholesterolemia, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and depression. Moreover, 52.3% were treatment-experienced patients with up to two treatments prior to raltegravir. Across the study time points, there was a reduction in the viral load and improvement in CD4 counts in both the treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced subgroups. Continuing users of raltegravir reported high treatment satisfaction (55.4 ± 7.2 points).Conclusion: Raltegravir-based regimens seem like a valid therapeutic option in heterogeneous populations of HIV-infected patients, in patients with previous ART experience and as part of first-line therapeutic options alongside with the latest generation of drugs from its class.

REALITY was a non-interventional, retrospective and multi-centre study, aiming to describe the clinical and sociodemographic features of HIV patients initiating Raltegravir (RAL) (bid)-based regimens, in Portugal. A secondary objective was to assess the satisfaction of patients with RAL at the study inclusion visit, according to a self-reported questionnaire (HIV Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire- status version, HIVTSQs (© Bradley). The study included naïve and treatment-experienced adult patients infected with HIV-1, who initiated treatment with RAL during 2015-2017, from 11 Portuguese hospitals. The information on the patient’s treatment satisfaction with RAL was collected using a linguistically validated Portuguese version of the HIVTSQs, completed at the study inclusion visit by patients on RAL. This 10-item questionnaire was divided in two subscales (General Satisfaction/Clinical and Lifestyle/Ease) each with scores ranging from 0-30 where higher scores indicate greater satisfaction. All 10 items were summed to produce the treatment satisfaction score (range: 0-60 points): higher scores indicating greater satisfaction with the treatment. A total of 244 patients, out of 302 recruited between Jul2018-Apr2019, were on RAL-based regimens at the inclusion visit, and therefore filled the HIVTSQs©. Patients on RAL-based regimens reported a high satisfaction with Raltegravir-based treatment, with mean scores of 28.1 points for General Satisfaction/Clinical and 27.3 points for Lifestyle/Ease. The mean total score for overall Treatment Satisfaction was 55.4 points. This total score was higher for women than for men (56.27 vs. 55.09, respectively; p=0.0191). No differences were observed regarding Treatment Satisfaction score between those with late diagnosis vs non-late diagnosis and between CDC stage. Also, no statistically significant differences were observed when considering the other quantitative variables tested. Treatment satisfaction with Raltegravir-based regimens was high, which has been shown to be associated with better treatment adherence and might be expected to result in fewer patients discontinuing therapy.