Thanks to improvements in the potency of antiretrovirals (ARVs), the level of adherence needed to achieve full suppression of HIV with today’s regimens may be lower than previously conceived, aidsmap reports. In other words, such medications have greater “dosing forgiveness.” Publishing their findings in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Kathy Byrd, MD, MPH, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and colleagues analyzed data from the Patient-Centered HIV Care Model demonstration project, which included 765 people with HIV between 2014 and 2016. The study provided 12 to 48 months of data on each participant, including their demographics, viral load test results and prescription fills. A key metric to evaluate adherence was the proportion of days covered (PDC), which means the proportion of a 365-day periodduring which each participant had ARVs available based on his or her prescription refill frequency. The study authors broke down their findings according to PDC ranges: less than 50%, 50% to just under 80%, 80% to just under 85%, 85% to just under 90% and 90% or greater. They used those rates to calculate the average adherence level required to achieve a viral load below 200 in 90% of a group. […]
Click here to view original web page at www.realhealthmag.com