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Published on: March 30, 2014
An assessment of herbal therapy use, adherence and utilization of pharmacy services in HIV clinics
John J Faragon1, Bonnie D Purdy, Peter J Piliero
1Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany, NY 12208, USA.
Objective:
To assess herbal therapy use, adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and pharmacy service utilization in two HIV clinics using a prospective questionnaire-based assessment.
Results:
Seventy-six patients completed the questionnaire. Twenty-six patients (34%) reported using at least one herbal therapy; 14 (54%) reported this to their provider. Providers correctly predicted herbal therapy use in 10 (38%) patients reporting herbal therapy use. Seventy-three patients (96%) reported a high level of adherence (> 90%), while only 37% had a viral load < 80 copies/ml. Clinic and community-based pharmacy services were underutilized.
Conclusions:
Herbal therapy use was common, under-reported and difficult for providers to predict. Unreported herbal therapy use could lead to virologic failure as a result of unknown drug-herb interactions. Consultative pharmacy services in the clinic and retail pharmacies are underutilized.
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