Abstract

Real-time medication monitoring (RTMM) may potentially enhance adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART). We describe a participant in an ongoing trial who, shortly after completing trial participation, died of cryptococcal meningitis despite high levels of adherence according to self-report, pill-counts and RTMM (> 99%). However, she evidenced consistently high HIV viral load throughout the 48-week study follow-up. Subsequently, her relatives unsolicitedly returned eight months’ dispensed ART medication that she was supposed to have taken. This brief report illustrates the challenges of adherence measurements including RTMM, and reinforces the need to combine adherence assessments with viral load monitoring in HIV care.

Details

Title
Returning of antiretroviral medication dispensed over a period of 8 months suggests non-adherence despite full adherence according to real time medication monitoring
Author
Kennedy Michael Ngowi  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Masika, Lydia; Lyamuya, Furaha; Muro, Eva; Mmbaga, Blandina T; Sprangers, Mirjam A G; Nieuwkerk, Pythia T; Aarnoutse, Rob E; Reiss, Peter; Sumari-de Boer, I Marion
Pages
1-6
Section
Case Report
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
e-ISSN
1742-6405
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12981-020-00313-z
ProQuest document ID
2443988610
Copyright
© 2020. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.