December 5, 2011
The association of once-daily antiretroviral dosing with self-reported ART adherence was the subject of the current study. The team examined this association among participants of the Ontario Cohort Study who were currently taking ART and who had completed a 90-minute, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Missing one or more ART doses in the four days preceding the interview was defined as suboptimal adherence.
Most of the 779 participants were male (85 percent), white (67 percent), and men who have sex with men (69 percent). Their median age was 48 years (IQR 42-54); they had been taking ART for a median of nine years (IQR 5-13); and their median CD4 count was 463 cells/mm3 (IQR 320-638).
"Fifteen percent of participants reported suboptimal adherence in the four days prior to the interview," the authors wrote. A multivariable logistic regression model found that those participants taking once-daily regimens were half as likely to have missed a dose in the previous four days.
"Other independent correlates of suboptimal adherence were younger age, lower positive social interaction and increased frequency of consuming >6 alcoholic drinks on one occasion," the authors concluded.