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. 2016 Aug 15;72(5):542-545.
doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000994.

Brief Report: Apparent Antiretroviral Overadherence by Pill Count is Associated With HIV Treatment Failure in Adolescents

Harriet Okatch #  1   2   3 , Kaylin Beiter #  1 , Jessica Eby  1 , Jennifer Chapman  1 , Tafireyi Marukutira  4 , Ontibile Tshume  4 , Mogomotsi Matshaba  4   5 , Gabriel M Anabwani  4   5 , Robert Gross  6 , Elizabeth Lowenthal  1   7
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Brief Report: Apparent Antiretroviral Overadherence by Pill Count is Associated With HIV Treatment Failure in Adolescents

Harriet Okatch et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. .

Abstract

Pill counts with calculated adherence percentages are used in many settings to monitor adherence, but can be undermined by patients discarding pills to hide nonadherence. Pill counts suggesting that >100% of prescribed doses were taken can signal "pill dumping." We defined "overadherence" among a cohort of 300 HIV-infected adolescents as having greater than one-third of pill counts with >100% adherence during a year of follow-up. Apparent overadherence was more common in those with virologic failure than in those with suppressed viral loads (33% vs 13%, χ(2) P = 0.001). Pill count adherence repeatedly >100% may identify HIV-infected adolescents at increased risk of treatment failure.

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References

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