Assessing the effectiveness of pharmacy-based adherence interventions on antiretroviral adherence in persons with HIV

A key factor to the successful treatment of HIV is good adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). We developed a pharmacist-managed adherence clinic and designed a study to assess the impact of the adherence interventions by measuring the proportion of patients with 95% or greater adherence to ART before and after referral to the program. HIV providers referred patients with adherence problems to a pharmacist-managed adherence clinic. Interventions included scheduled clinic visits with the HIV Clinical Pharmacist and monthly refill reminders from pharmacy staff members over a 6-month period. Those aged 18-75, prescribed an ART regimen for a minimum of 3 months, and who filled their medications exclusively at the clinic pharmacy were eligible for study participation. The Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) served as a surrogate marker of overall adherence. A total of 34 patients were referred to the pharmacy clinic for adherence counseling, of whom 28 enrolled in the study. The proportion of participants with 95% or greater adherence to their ART regimen increased from 7% at baseline to 32% postintervention (p = 0.01). A subanalysis of the PDC revealed an overall increase from a baseline adherence mean of 60% to 81% postintervention (p < 0.0001). There was a notable trend toward an increase in the proportion of participants with an undetectable HIV-1 viral load (58-73%, baseline and postintervention, respectively, p = 0.10), but no statistically significant improvement in CD4 cell count. Clinical pharmacy interventions improved overall adherence to ART regimens in these patients with HIV.