Evaluating adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy with use of pill counts and viral load measurement in the drug resources enhancement against AIDS and malnutrition program in Mozambique.
BACKGROUND
Maintaining treatment adherence among the growing number of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in Africa is a dramatic challenge. The objective of our study was to explore the results of a computerized pill count method and to test the validity, sensitivity, and specificity of this method with respect to viral load measurement in an African setting.


METHODS
We performed a prospective, observational study involving patients who received first-line highly active antiretroviral therapy in Mozambique from 1 April 2005 through 31 March 2006. Enrolled patients had received treatment for at least 3 months before the study. For defining treatment adherence levels, pill counts were used, and the results were analyzed with viral load measurements at the end of the observation period.


RESULTS
The study involved 531 participants. During the 12 months of observation, 137 patients left the program or discontinued first-line therapy. Of the remaining 394 patients, 284 (72.1%) had >95% treatment adherence; of those 284 patients, 274 (96.5%) had a final viral load <1000 copies/mL. A Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that the relationship between >95% treatment adherence and the final viral load was closer than that between >90% treatment adherence and viral load.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment adherence >95% maximizes the results of the nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor-based regimen. The pill count method appears to be a reliable and economic tool for monitoring treatment adherence in resource-limited settings.
San Lio
Massimo Magnano
MM
Community of Sant'Egidio, Drug Resources Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition Program, Rome, Italy. massimo.magnano@gmail.com
Carbini
Riccardo
R
Germano
Paola
P
Guidotti
Giovanni
G
Mancinelli
Sandro
S
Magid
Noorjehan Abdul
NA
Narciso
Pasquale
P
Palombi
Leonardo
L
Renzi
Elsa
E
Zimba
Ines
I
Marazzi
Maria Cristina
MC
D000328:Adult; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009073:Mozambique; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019562:Viral Load
D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors