TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceptions about the acceptability of assessments of HIV medication adherence in Lilongwe, Malawi and Chennai, India
AU - Safren, Steven A.
AU - Kumarasamy, N.
AU - Hosseinipour, Mina
AU - Harwood, Meaghan M.
AU - Hoffman, Irving
AU - McCauley, Marybeth
AU - Jumbe, Allan
AU - Nyirenda, Christina
AU - Mimiaga, Matthew J.
AU - Solomon, Suniti
AU - Celentano, David
AU - Mayer, Kenneth H.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding from this project came from a supplement to Grant U01 AI48040-03 (HIV Prevention Trials Unit; Kenneth Mayer, PI) through Family Health International to the first and last authors and from a Fogarty International Training Grant (TW00237; Kenneth Mayer, PI) awarded to Dr.
PY - 2006/7
Y1 - 2006/7
N2 - Little research exists on acceptability issues related to assessments of adherence to ART in resource-poor settings. To help prepare for two large-scale, multisite ART intervention trials, this qualitative study of individuals in Chennai, India (49 men, 11 women; 33 taking ART, 27 not) and Lilongwe, Malawi (5 men, 5 women, all taking ART) examined potential limitations of different types of adherence assessments: an adherence questionnaire, a pill diary, a pillbox, an electronic pill cap, and a medication punch card. Many participants reported that the various assessments would be acceptable. Potential limitations included issues surrounding literacy, the desire to appease one's medical provider, privacy and stigma, and "cheating." These potential limitations are similar to the limitations of these assessments in Western settings. However, the data highlight the need to consider individual patient level concerns when assessing ART adherence in different cultural settings. Innovative ways of monitoring adherence while maintaining standardization across sites are required in multisite trials.
AB - Little research exists on acceptability issues related to assessments of adherence to ART in resource-poor settings. To help prepare for two large-scale, multisite ART intervention trials, this qualitative study of individuals in Chennai, India (49 men, 11 women; 33 taking ART, 27 not) and Lilongwe, Malawi (5 men, 5 women, all taking ART) examined potential limitations of different types of adherence assessments: an adherence questionnaire, a pill diary, a pillbox, an electronic pill cap, and a medication punch card. Many participants reported that the various assessments would be acceptable. Potential limitations included issues surrounding literacy, the desire to appease one's medical provider, privacy and stigma, and "cheating." These potential limitations are similar to the limitations of these assessments in Western settings. However, the data highlight the need to consider individual patient level concerns when assessing ART adherence in different cultural settings. Innovative ways of monitoring adherence while maintaining standardization across sites are required in multisite trials.
KW - Adherence
KW - Antiretroviral therapy
KW - Developing countries
KW - Qualitative research
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U2 - 10.1007/s10461-006-9094-6
DO - 10.1007/s10461-006-9094-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 16604297
AN - SCOPUS:33746791484
SN - 1090-7165
VL - 10
SP - 443
EP - 450
JO - AIDS and behavior
JF - AIDS and behavior
IS - 4
ER -