Adhering well to an antiretroviral (ARV) regimen during the first few months after starting treatment for HIV is linked to a higher likelihood of maintaining viral suppression in the long run. For a median 11 years, French researchers followed 891 people with HIV who started ARVs between 1997 and 1999. After four months of treatment, adherence in the group was high (100 percent of doses) for 57 percent, medium (80 percent to 99.9 percent of doses) for 33 percent and poor (less than 80 percent of doses) for 10 percent. For the rest of the study, adherence was always high for 66 percent, wavered between high and medium for 25 percent and was poor during at least one period for 9 percent. Compared with reporting low adherence during the first four months of treatment, reporting high adherence during that time was linked with a nearly fourfold greater likelihood of long-term viral suppression.