Department of Pharmacy, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Auckland, New Zealand.
BMC Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 23;20(1):874. doi: 10.1186/s12879-020-05571-w.
Pakistan is facing a growing population of people living with human immunodeficiency (HIV). In this randomized controlled trial, we investigate if a pharmacist-led intervention can increase adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV (PLWH).
Adults with HIV, who have been taking ART for more than 3 months were randomly assigned to receive either a pharmacist-led intervention or their usual care. Measures of adherence were collected at 1) baseline 2) just prior to delivery of intervention and 3) 8 weeks later. The primary outcomes were CD4 cell count and self-reported adherence measured with the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) questionnaire.
Post-intervention, the intervention group showed a statistically significant increase in CD4 cell counts as compared to the usual care group (p = 0.0054). In addition, adherence improved in the intervention group, with participants being 5.96 times more likely to report having not missed their medication for longer periods of time (p = 0.0086) while participants in the intervention group were 7.74 times more likely to report missing their ART less frequently (p < 0.0001).
The findings support the improvement in ART adherence and HIV management.
The trial is registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12618001882213 ). Registered 20 November 2018.
巴基斯坦正面临着越来越多的艾滋病毒感染者。在这项随机对照试验中，我们研究了药剂师主导的干预措施是否可以提高艾滋病毒感染者（PLWH）对抗逆转录病毒治疗（ART）的依从性。
接受 ART 治疗超过 3 个月的 HIV 成人患者被随机分配接受药剂师主导的干预或常规护理。在以下三个时间点收集依从性测量结果：1）基线，2）干预措施实施前，3）8 周后。主要结局指标为 CD4 细胞计数和使用艾滋病临床试验组（ACTG）问卷测量的自我报告依从性。
干预后，与常规护理组相比，干预组的 CD4 细胞计数有统计学意义上的显著增加（p=0.0054）。此外，干预组的依从性也有所改善，参与者报告长时间未漏服药物的可能性增加了 5.96 倍（p=0.0086），而报告漏服 ART 频率降低的可能性增加了 7.74 倍（p<0.0001）。
研究结果支持改善 ART 依从性和 HIV 管理。
该试验在澳大利亚新西兰临床试验注册中心（ACTRN12618001882213）注册。注册于 2018 年 11 月 20 日。
