Title
Brief Report: Apparent Antiretroviral Over-adherence by Pill Count is Associated with HIV Treatment Failure in Adolescents.
Year of Publication
2016
Author
Date Published
2016 Mar 16
ISSN Number
1944-7884
Abstract
<p>Pill counts with calculated adherence percentages are used in many settings to monitor adherence, but can be undermined by patients discarding pills to hide non-adherence. Pill counts suggesting that >100% of prescribed doses were taken can signal "pill dumping." We defined "over-adherence" (OA) among a cohort of 300 HIV-infected adolescents as having >1/3 of pill counts with >100% adherence during a year of follow-up. Apparent over-adherence was more common in those with virologic failure than those with suppressed viral loads (33% vs 13%, chi p=0.001). Pill count adherence repeatedly >100% may identify HIV-infected adolescents at increased risk of treatment failure.</p>
DOI
10.1097/QAI.0000000000000994
Alternate Title
J. Acquir. Immune Defic. Syndr.
PMID
26990822