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SUPERVISED MEDICATION DELIVERY NEEDED TO ENSURE HIV PATIENTS STICK TO THEIR MEDICATION REGIMENS
01 February 2005 - Boston University
| Supervised medication delivery or simplified dosing regimens may be needed to ensure that HIV-infected patients with a history of alcohol problems stick to their medication regimens, according to a new study by researchers at Boston University Medical Center. |
The research, which appears in the February 2005 issue of Antiviral Therapy, found that a multicomponent, individualized intervention, which includes addressing a patient’s alcohol use and providing HIV medication counseling as well as a medication timer device to facilitate pill taking, failed to change medication adherence in HIV-infected individuals with alcohol problems. “Alcohol abuse has been associated with poorer medication adherence in HIV-infected individuals and heavy drinking is associated with taking antiretroviral therapy off schedule,” said Jeffrey Samet, MD, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. “Our findings show that despite utilizing a defined and repeated intensive patient intervention, HIV-infected patients with alcohol problems did not improve adherence with their HIV medications.” Researchers studied 151 HIV-infected patients with a history of alcohol problems on antiretroviral therapy. For three months, each patient participated in a clinical intervention with four distinct components: assessment and discussion of the patient’s alcohol and other substance abuse, use of a watch that served as a medication timer device, enhancement of perceived efficacy of medications, and a series of individualized HIV medication counseling sessions. According to Samet, at follow-up, researchers found no significant differences in medication adherence, immune system suppression, HIV virus levels or alcohol consumption among the patients. “It remains unclear what it will take to improve medication adherence among this challenging population,” explained Samet, chief of General Internal Medicine at Boston Medical Center. “Future efforts should focus on more systematic interventions, such as supervised medication administration or simplified dosing regimens. Even addressing an individual’s needs to improve pill taking for HIV/AIDS may not be enough to change behavior and ensure that the patient stick to his or her medication regimen.”
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Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities. We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG). We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines. Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government. To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances. This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation. |
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