Medication possession ratio associated with short-term virologic response in individuals initiating antiretroviral therapy in Namibia

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The visual-analogue scale (VAS), Likert item (rating scale), pills identification test (PIT), and medication possession ratio (MPR) provide estimates of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence which correlate with HIV viral suppression. These simple adherence measures are inexpensive and easy to administer; however, require validation and adjustment prior to implementation. The objective of this study was to define the optimal adherence assessment measure in Namibia to identify patients at risk for sub-optimal adherence and poor virologic response 6 months after ART initiation. We conducted a crosssectional survey in HIV-infected adults receiving ART for 6–12 months prior to the adherence assessment. Adherence measures included 30-day VAS, 30-day Likert item, self-reported treatment interruptions, PIT, and MPR. Association of adherence measures with 6-month HIV-1 RNA level was assessed using two thresholds (1000 copies/mL and 5000 copies/mL). Adherence was assessed in 236 patients, mean age 37.3 years, 54% female. Mean adherence was 98.1% by 30-day VAS, 84.7% by 30-day Likert item, 97.0% by self-reported treatment interruptions, 90.6% by PIT, and 98.8% by MPR. Agreement between adherence measures was poor using kappa statistic. 76% had HIV-1 RNA ,1000 copies/ml, and 88% had HIV-1 RNA ,5000 copies/ml. MPR (continuous) was associated with viral suppression ,5000 copies/ml (p = 0.036). MPR ,75% was associated with virologic failure at $5000 copies/ml with OR 3.89 (1.24, 12.21), p = 0.013. Adherence was high with all measures. Only MPR, was associated with short-term virologic response, suggesting its cross-culturally utility for early identification of patients at high risk for virologic failure.

Description

CITATION: Hong, S. Y., et al. 2013. Medication possession ratio associated with short-term virologic response in individuals initiating antiretroviral therapy in Namibia. PLoS ONE, 8(2): 1-7, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056307.
The original publication is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosone

Keywords

Visual-analogue scale, Pills, Antiretroviral agents, Medical virology

Citation

Hong, S. Y., et al. 2013. Medication possession ratio associated with short-term virologic response in individuals initiating antiretroviral therapy in Namibia. PLoS ONE, 8(2): 1-7, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056307

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/79747

Collections

Research Articles (Infectious Diseases)

Full item page