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      Mobile phone reminders and peer counseling improve adherence and treatment outcomes of patients on ART in Malaysia: A randomized clinical trial

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          Abstract

          Background

          Adherence to treatment remains the cornerstone of long term viral suppression and successful treatment outcomes among patients receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).

          Objective(s)

          Evaluate the effectiveness of mobile phone reminders and peer counseling in improving adherence and treatment outcomes among HIV positive patients on ART in Malaysia.

          Methods

          A single-blind, parallel group RCT conducted in Hospital Sungai Buloh, Malaysia in which 242 adult Malaysian patients were randomized to intervention or control groups. Intervention consisted of a reminder module delivered through SMS and telephone call reminders by trained research assistants for 24 consecutive weeks (starting from date of ART initiation), in addition to adherence counseling at every clinic visit. The length of intended follow up for each patient was 6 months. Data on adherence behavior of patients was collected using specialized, pre-validated Adult AIDS Clinical Trial Group (AACTG) adherence questionnaires. Data on weight, clinical symptoms, CD4 count and viral load tests were also collected. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and R software. Repeated measures ANOVA, Friedman’s ANOVA and Multivariate regression models were used to evaluate efficacy of the intervention.

          Results

          The response rate after 6 months follow up was 93%. There were no significant differences at baseline in gender, employment status, income distribution and residential location of respondents between the intervention and control group. After 6 months follow up, the mean adherence was significantly higher in the intervention group (95.7; 95% CI: 94.39–96.97) as compared to the control group (87.5; 95% CI: 86.14–88.81). The proportion of respondents who had Good (>95%) adherence was significantly higher in the intervention group (92.2%) compared to the control group (54.6%). A significantly lower frequency in missed appointments (14.0% vs 35.5%) (p = 0.001), lower viral load (p = 0.001), higher rise in CD4 count (p = 0.017), lower incidence of tuberculosis (p = 0.001) and OIs (p = 0.001) at 6 months follow up, was observed among patients in the intervention group.

          Conclusion

          Mobile phone reminders (SMS and telephone call reminders) and peer counseling are effective in improving adherence and treatment outcomes among HIV positive patients on ART in Malaysia. These findings may be of potential benefit for collaborative adherence planning between patients and health care providers at ART commencement.

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          Most cited references17

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          Results of a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of a mobile SMS-based intervention on treatment adherence in HIV/AIDS-infected Brazilian women and impressions and satisfaction with respect to incoming messages.

          To assess whether a warning system based on mobile SMS messages increases the adherence of HIV-infected Brazilian women to antiretroviral drug-based treatment regimens and their impressions and satisfaction with respect to incoming messages. A randomized controlled trial was conducted from May 2009 to April 2010 with HIV-infected Brazilian women. All participants (n=21) had a monthly multidisciplinary attendance; each participant was followed over a 4-month period, when adherence measures were obtained. Participants in the intervention group (n=8) received SMS messages 30 min before their last scheduled time for a dose of medicine during the day. The messages were sent every Saturday and Sunday and on alternate days during the working week. Participants in the control group (n=13) did not receive messages. Self-reported adherence, pill counting, microelectronic monitors (MEMS) and an interview about the impressions and satisfaction with respect to incoming messages. The HIV Alert System (HIVAS) was developed over 7 months during 2008 and 2009. After the study period, self-reported adherence indicated that 11 participants (84.62%) remained compliant in the control group (adherence exceeding 95%), whereas all 8 participants in the intervention group (100.00%) remained compliant. In contrast, the counting pills method indicated that the number of compliant participants was 5 (38.46%) for the control group and 4 (50.00%) for the intervention group. Microelectronic monitoring indicated that 6 participants in the control group (46.15%) were adherent during the entire 4-month period compared to 6 participants in the intervention group (75.00%). According to the feedback of the 8 participants who completed the research in the intervention group, along with the feedback of 3 patients who received SMS for less than 4 months, that is, did not complete the study, 9 (81.81%) believed that the SMS messages aided them in treatment adherence, and 10 (90.90%) responded that they would like to continue receiving SMS messages. SMS messaging can help Brazilian women living with HIV/AIDS to adhere to antiretroviral therapy for a period of at least 4 months. In general, the results are encouraging because the SMS messages stimulated more participants in the intervention group to be adherent to their treatment, and the patients were satisfied with the messages received, which were seen as reminders, incentives and signs of affection by the health clinic for a marginalized population. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
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            Excellent clinical outcomes and high retention in care among adults in a community-based HIV treatment program in rural Rwanda.

            Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has rapidly expanded; as of the end of 2010, an estimated 6.6 million people are receiving ART in low-income and middle-income countries. Few reports have focused on the experiences of rural health centers or the use of community health workers. We report clinical and programatic outcomes at 24 months for a cohort of patients enrolled in a community-based ART program in southeastern Rwanda under collaboration between Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health. A retrospective medical record review was performed for a cohort of 1041 HIV+ adult patients initiating community-based ART between June 1, 2005, and April 30, 2006. Key programatic elements included free ART with direct observation by community health worker, tuberculosis screening and treatment, nutritional support, a transportation allowance, and social support. Among 1041 patients who initiated community-based ART, 961 (92.3%) were retained in care, 52 (5%) died and 28 (2.7%) were lost to follow-up. Median CD4 T-cell count increase was 336 cells per microliter [interquartile range: (IQR): 212-493] from median 190 cells per microliter (IQR: 116-270) at initiation. A program of intensive community-based treatment support for ART in rural Rwanda had excellent outcomes in 24-month retention in care. Having committed to improving access to HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, the international community, including country HIV programs, should set high programmatic outcome benchmarks.
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              Randomized controlled trial of a personalized cellular phone reminder system to enhance adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

              Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) represents one of the strongest predictors of progression to AIDS, yet it is difficult for most patients to sustain high levels of adherence. This study compares the efficacy of a personalized cell phone reminder system (ARemind) in enhancing adherence to ART versus a beeper. Twenty-three HIV-infected subjects on ART with self-reported adherence less than 85% were randomized to a cellular phone (CP) or beeper (BP). CP subjects received personalized text messages daily; in contrast, BP subjects received a reminder beep at the time of dosing. Interviews were scheduled at weeks 3 and 6. Adherence to ART was measured by self-report (SR, 7-day recall), pill count (PC, past 30 days at baseline, then past 3 weeks), Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS; cumulatively at 3 and 6 weeks), and via a composite adherence score constructed by combining MEMS, pill count, and self report. A mixed effects model adjusting for baseline adherence was used to compare adherence rates between the intervention groups at 3 and 6 weeks. Nineteen subjects completed all visits, 10 men and 9 females. The mean age was 42.7 ± 6.5 years, 37% of subjects were Caucasian and 89% acquired HIV heterosexually. The average adherence to ART was 79% by SR and 65% by PC at baseline in both arms; over 6 weeks adherence increased and remained significantly higher in the ARemind group using multiple measures of adherence. A larger and longer prospective study is needed to confirm these findings and to better understand optimal reminder messages and user fatigue.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS ONE
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )
                1932-6203
                16 May 2017
                2017
                : 12
                : 5
                : e0177698
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
                [2 ]Department of Public Health Medicine, Penang Medical College, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
                [3 ]Infectious Disease Clinic, Hospital Sungai Buloh, Sungai Buloh, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
                [4 ]Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
                Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, UNITED STATES
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

                • Conceptualization: SAA LR FI APR.

                • Data curation: SAA LR.

                • Formal analysis: SAA LR.

                • Investigation: SAA APR.

                • Methodology: SAA LR FI APR.

                • Project administration: SAA LR FI APR.

                • Resources: SAA LR FI APR.

                • Supervision: SAA LR FI APR HK NO.

                • Validation: SAA LR FI APR HK NO.

                • Visualization: SAA LR FI HK NO.

                • Writing – original draft: SAA LR.

                • Writing – review & editing: SAA LR FI NO HK.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4445-1295
                Article
                PONE-D-16-01960
                10.1371/journal.pone.0177698
                5433794
                28520768
                4dd86344-2476-4181-adcc-7f354072d53c
                © 2017 Abdulrahman et al

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 13 February 2016
                : 25 April 2017
                Page count
                Figures: 1, Tables: 5, Pages: 16
                Funding
                The authors received no specific funding for this work.
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