Directly administered antiretroviral therapy (DAART) is one approach to improving adherence to among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected drug users. We evaluated the essential features of a community-based DAART intervention in a randomized, controlled trial of DAART versus self-administered therapy. Of the initial 72 subjects, 78% were racial minorities, and 32% were women. Social and medical comorbidities among subjects included homelessness (35% of subjects), lack of interpersonal support (86%), major depression (57%), and alcoholism (36%). At baseline, the median CD4+ cell count was 403 cells/mL and the median HIV-1 RNA load was 146,333 copies/mL (log10 5.31 copies/mL). During the prior 6 months, 33% of subjects had missed a medical appointment, and 47% had visited an emergency department. Although most subjects (67%) preferred to take their own medications, 76% would accept DAART if it were made compulsory. A methadone clinic was the DAART venue acceptable to the fewest subjects (36%), and a mobile syringe-exchange program was acceptable to the most subjects (83%). Adherence was higher for supervised than for unsupervised medication administration (P<.0001), a finding that supports use of daily supervision of once-daily regimens. Moreover, DAART should incorporate enhanced elements such as convenience, flexibility, confidentiality, cues and reminders, responsive pharmacy and medical services, and specialized training for staff.

Directly administered antiretroviral therapy (DAART) can improve health outcomes among HIVinfected drug users. An understanding of the utilization of DAART-initiation, adherence, and retention-is critical to successful program design. Here, we use the Behavioral Model to assess the enabling, predisposing, and need factors impacting adherence in our randomized, controlled trial of DAART versus self-administered therapy (SAT) among 141 HIV-infected drug users. Of 88 participants randomized to DAART, 74 (84%) initiated treatment, and 51 (69%) of those who initiated were retained in the program throughout the entire six-month period. Mean adherence to directly observed visits was 73%, and the mean overall composite adherence score was 77%. These results were seen despite the finding that 75% of participants indicated that they would prefer to take their own medications. Major causes of DAART discontinuation included hospitalization, incarceration, and entry into drug-treatment programs. The presence of depression and the lack of willingness to travel greater than four blocks to receive DAART predicted time-to-discontinuation.

We offered standardized gynecologic examinations to consecutive women admitted to an AIDS-designated inpatient medical service; 65 (97%) of 67 women consented to the examination. The median CD4+ T lymphocyte count was 54/mm3. Only 9% of the women were admitted for primary gynecologic or genitourinary diagnoses; however, on evaluation, 83% of these women had gynecologic disease. The overall prevalences of vaginitis, cervical dysplasia, genital condylomata, genital herpes, and pelvic inflammatory disease were 51%, 45%, 23%, 20%, and 5%, respectively. Unexpected findings included adenovirus infection and foscarnet-associated genital ulcerations (two cases each). For predicting disease, gynecologic symptoms had a sensitivity of 76% and a positive predictive value of 95% but a negative predictive value of only 41%. Our results document the high prevalence of comorbid gynecologic disease among women infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Because of the inability to fully predict disease by symptom history, it is imperative that comprehensive gynecologic evaluation be offered routinely to all HIV-infected women hospitalized for acute medical illnesses.

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