How to investigate Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment ... - INRUD

Chapter 3. Indicators for possible Determinants of Adherence
are two separate lists of key ARVs that need to be decided on. It is also vital to treat
opportunistic infections as they occur, so a third list of medicines for the most frequent
opportunistic infections needs to be developed.
On the day of data collection, if there is any amount of each of the specified drugs present
and in date, then the drug will be recorded as present.
ARV Availability Over the Last 90 Days
4. The percentage of days each medicine on a list of adult ARVs has been in stock in the last
90 days
5. The percentage of days each medicine on a list of child ARVs has been in stock in the last
90 days
Rationale
Source of data
Data collection
Failure to maintain continuous availability of ARVs can be a barrier to patient
confidence and long-term adherence.
Pharmacy stock records
Check stock records for each medicine on adult and paediatric ARV list to
determine the number of days in stock in the previous 90 days (any amount will do
as long as it is in stock and in date)
Computation (Number of days that medicine was in stock in last 90 days/90) × 100
Calculated separately for each listed medicine
Comments
Need to prepare tracer list of up to 10 first line adult and paediatric ARVs
By looking back over the last 90 days for each medicine on each of the three lists, one gets a
longer term perspective on drug availability than just looking on the day of data collection.
However, it means that a good system of record keeping or stock cards is needed and so the
information may not be as reliable.
6. Key medicine availability over the last 90 days—The percentage of days each medicine
on a list of key medicines for HIV-associated illnesses has been in stock in the last 90
days
Rationale
Source of data
Data collection
Failure to maintain continuous availability of key medicines needed to treat HIVassociated
illnesses can be a barrier to patient confidence and long-term
adherence.
Pharmacy stock records
Check stock records for each medicine on a tracer list of key medicines to
determine the number of days in stock in the previous 90 days (any amount will do
as long as it is in stock and in date)
Computation (Number of days that medicine was in stock in last 90 days/90) × 100
Calculated separately for each listed medicine
Comments
Need to prepare tracer list of up to 10 key medicines
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