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

Chapter 3. Indicators for possible Determinants of Adherence
14. ARV dispensing rate—Percent of patients who had all prescribed ARVs dispensed at the
health facility
Rationale
Source of data
Failure to dispense during the patient visit all ARVs that were prescribed is a
primary barrier to adherence
Patient exit interviews
Data collection For sample of 30 patients attending on day of data collection (or all patients if < 30
attend that day), check to see if all ARVs prescribed were dispensed
Computation
Comments
(Number of patients dispensed all ARVs prescribed/number of patients surveyed)
× 100
Need to ask if patients were told to fill prescription outside of health facility or to
return earlier than usual to pick up additional ARVs
15. Non-ARV medicines dispensing rate—Percent of patients who had all prescribed
medicines dispensed at the health facility
Rationale
Source of data
Data collection
Computation
Comments
Failure to dispense during the patient visit all non-ARV medicines
prescribed can contribute to overall low adherence
Patient exit interviews
For sample of 30 patients attending on day of data collection (or all patients
if < 30 attend that day), check to see if all non-ARV medicines prescribed
were dispensed
(Number of patients dispensed all non-ARV medicines prescribed/number
of patients surveyed) × 100
Need to ask if patients were told to fill prescription outside of health facility
or to return earlier than usual to pick up additional non-ARV medicines
16. Proper medicines labelling—Percent of patients for whom all medicines dispensed are
adequately labelled
Rationale
Source of data
Data collection
Computation
Comments
Proper labelling of all medicines promotes better knowledge about their use and is
essential for patient safety
Patient exit interviews
Based on a sample of 30 patients attending on day of data collection (or all
patients if < 30 attend that day—For each medicine, the labelling on the container
in which they were dispensed must contain name of medicine, how many times a
day to take medicine, and how much to take each time
(Number of patients with all dispensed medicines labelled correctly/number of
patients assessed) × 100
Medicines must each be dispensed in a separate container (pill bottle or
envelope), and each container must contain at a minimum the three items of
labelling assessed
These items all are important for whether the patient can take the medicine regularly as
prescribed.
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