title: How do we measure adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment?
abstract: Completion of anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment is of paramount importance for TB patients, as well as for the global efforts of TB control. However, there is neither a gold-standard measure to monitor adherence to TB treatment nor a widely used definition for different levels of adherence. Areas covered: in this review we aim to describe the different methods used to measure patients' adherence to anti-TB treatment, identifying their main strengths and limitations, with a focus on low resource settings. Expert commentary: there is a need for continuing the quest for a low cost, reliable and acceptable measure of adherence to TB treatment. We should harmonize treatment adherence measurement to allow adequate comparison of different interventions aimed at increasing adherence to TB treatment, although the way we ensure adherence can affect adherence endpoints themselves. The accuracy of adherence measurement is of importance in the context of drug clinical development.
authors.affiliation: a Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology Service , Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.|b ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB) , Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Salome
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valencia
authors.affiliation: b ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB) , Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: León
authors.affiliation: c Hospital 12 de Octubre , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Losada
authors.affiliation: a Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology Service , Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.|b ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB) , Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Victor G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Sequera
authors.affiliation: d Public Health Agency of Barcelona (ASPB) , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernández Quevedo
authors.affiliation: b ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB) , Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.|e Tuberculosis Research Area , Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM) , Maputo , Mozambique.|f Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD) , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alberto L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: García-Basteiro
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D023801:Directly Observed Therapy / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents
keywords: Adherence; DOTs; compliance; measures; treatment; tuberculosis