How to investigate levels of Adherence to antiretroviral ... - INRUD

How to Investigate Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment:
An Indicator-Based Approach
K L M N
All ARVS dispensed
All non-ARVS
dispensed
All ARVs well
labelled
All other medicines well
labelled
Column K
Were you asked to come back sooner than usual because
they didn’t have all the medicine you needed?
The patient may not know the word ARV, so it may help by picking up the relevant
medicines and asking whether all medicines like these were dispensed. Write Yes or No.
Column L
Were you asked to go and buy any other medicine?
Again the patient may not understand the word non-ARV. However, if not all
prescribed medicines have been dispensed, the patient would normally know as they
would have been asked to go and buy the missing medicine or to come back soon to pick
up the missing supply. Write Yes or No.
Column M
For labelling and packaging, first look at each of the dispensed ARV medicines and
judge whether it is:
o In a separate container or envelope
o Does each container or envelope contain:
• Drug name
• Dose per time
• Number of times per day
To write Yes, all ARV medicine must comply, otherwise write No.
For dose per time, and number of times per day, you need to decide what is acceptable. A
question that comes up is —is 2TDS or 2BD acceptable? Most teams felt that this is adequate
for communicating with a professional but is not sufficient for communicating with a
patient.
56