title: Patterns of HIV Treatment Adherence do not Differ Between Male and Female Adolescents in Botswana.
abstract: We hypothesized that longer and more frequent dosing gaps among boys in Botswana taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection compared to girls could account for previously seen gender-specific differences in outcomes. We monitored 154 male and 134 female adolescents for 2 years with medication event monitoring systems (MEMS). Median adherence was 95.6 % for males and 95.7 % for females (p = 0.40). There were no significant gender differences in the number of ≥7 day (p = 0.55) and ≥14 day (p = 0.48) dosing gaps. The median maximal gap was 7.7 days for males and 8.0 days for females (p = 0.47). These findings are not consistent with clinically meaningful gender differences in adherence.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Room 1513, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Emergency Medicine, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Kimon L H
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ioannides
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Gaborone, Botswana.
authors.forename: Tafireyi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marukutira
authors.affiliation: Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Gaborone, Botswana.
authors.forename: Ontibile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tshume
authors.affiliation: Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Gaborone, Botswana.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anabwani
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Room 1513, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Room 1513, Philadelphia, PA, USA. lowenthale@email.chop.edu.|Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. lowenthale@email.chop.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Lowenthal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001902:Botswana; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents
keywords: ART; Africa; Antiretroviral therapy; MEMS