Disease Progression, Adherence, and Response to Protease Inhibitor Therapy for HIV Infection in an Urban Veterans Affairs Medical Center

A time-to-prescription-refill measure of antiretroviral adherence predicted changes in viral load in HIV

“…Other investigators have used pharmacy-based measures of adherence in HIV [12,13]. Low-Beer et al [13] calculated adherence using the formula (prescriptions dispensed)/(months follow-up), showing a linear trend in the proportion achieving a viral load Ͻ500 copies/mL with increasing adherence.…”

Increases in a marker of immune system reconstitution are predated by decreases in 24-h urinary cortisol output and depressed mood during a 10-week stress management intervention in symptomatic HIV-infected men

“…Recent work indicating that HIV-infected individuals receiving potent antiretroviral therapy show evidence of immune system reconstitution notes that this association is dependent upon the patient's adherence to the antiretroviral regimen [65]. This suggests the importance of testing whether the current findings may have been explained, in part, by improved medication adherence in the CBSM group.…”

Changes in Stress, Substance Use and Medication Beliefs are Associated with Changes in Adherence to HIV Antiretroviral Therapy

“…High levels of adherence are necessary, however, for these treatments to be efficacious, as adherence to therapy has been shown to be a main predictor of antiretroviral treatment success or failure [4]. Adherence to treatment is also a critical determinant of virologic and immunologic response [5][6][7][8][9][10], development of resistant viral strains [11][12][13], progression to AIDS [14] and improved survival among HIV-infected individuals [15,16].…”