United States HIV treatment guidelines delineate preferred antiretroviral regimens (ART) and discourage use of subpotent, toxic, or adversely interacting combinations. It is unclear how often patients receive guideline concordant ART and what factors are correlated with receiving guideline-inconsistent ART. The objective of this study was to assess ART reported by participants of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) and the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) to determine whether gender is associated with receipt of guideline-inconsistent ART. ART reported by WIHS and MACS participants from 1/1/2001 – 12/31/2007 was assessed for concordance with HIV guidelines. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations estimated the crude and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals associated with guideline-inconsistent regimens. Of 2937 participants, 463 subjects (WIHS n=263; MACS n=200) reported guideline-inconsistent ART during the study period. Age greater than 50 years (aOR = 2.22, 95% CI 1.14, 4.33) and HIV-1 RNA (aOR=1.17, 95% CI 1.08, 1.25) but not participant gender (aOR= 1.21, 95% CI 0.88, 1.65) were associated with guideline-inconsistent ART. The prevalence of guideline inconsistent ART peaked in 2004, however there was not a statistically significant increase or decrease over time. Guideline inconsistent ART was not related to gender, but was often used by older patients, and patients with higher viral loads. Monitoring ART quality based on concordance with expert guidelines could improve treatment outcomes in a substantial number of patients.

Background and methods

Achieving high adherence to antiretroviral therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is challenging due to various system-related, medication-related, and patient-related factors. Community pharmacists can help patients resolve many medication-related issues that lead to poor adherence. The purpose of this cross-sectional survey nested within the Women’s Interagency HIV Study was to describe characteristics of women who had received pharmacist medication counseling within the previous 6 months. The secondary objective was to determine whether HIV-positive women who received pharmacist counseling had better treatment outcomes, including self-reported adherence, CD4+ cell counts, and HIV-1 viral loads.

Results

Of the 783 eligible participants in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study who completed the survey, only 30% of participants reported receiving pharmacist counseling within the last 6 months. Factors independently associated with counseling included increased age (odds ratio [OR] 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07–1.55), depression (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.25–2.45), and use of multiple pharmacies (OR 1.65; 95% CI 1.15–2.37). Patients with higher educational attainment were less likely to report pharmacist counseling (OR 0.68; 95% CI 0.48–0.98), while HIV status did not play a statistically significant role. HIV-positive participants who received pharmacist counseling were more likely to have optimal adherence (OR 1.23; 95% CI 0.70–2.18) and increased CD4+ cell counts (+43 cells/mm3, 95% CI 17.7–104.3) compared with those who had not received counseling, though these estimates did not achieve statistical significance.

Conclusion

Pharmacist medication counseling rates are suboptimal in HIV-positive and at-risk women. Pharmacist counseling is an underutilized resource which may contribute to improved adherence and CD4+ counts, though prospective studies should be conducted to explore this effect further.

Objective

Due to the rapid proliferation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment options, there is a need for health care providers with knowledge of antiretroviral therapy intricacies. In a HIV multidisciplinary care team, the HIV pharmacist is well-equipped to provide this expertise. We conducted a systematic review to assess the impact of HIV pharmacists on HIV clinical outcomes.

Methods

We searched six electronic databases from January 1, 1980 to June 1, 2011 and included all quantitative studies that examined pharmacist’s roles in the clinical care of HIV-positive adults. Primary outcomes were antiretroviral adherence, viral load, and CD4+ cell count and secondary outcomes included health care utilization parameters, antiretroviral modifications, and other descriptive variables.

Results

Thirty-two publications were included. Despite methodological limitation, the involvement of HIV pharmacists was associated with statistically significant adherence improvements and positive impact on viral suppression in the majority of studies.

Conclusion

This systematic review provides evidence of the beneficial impact of HIV pharmacists on HIV treatment outcomes and offers suggestions for future research.

Objectives

To evaluate the association between enrollment into an AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and antihypertensive therapy.

Methods

Cross-sectional analyses of data were performed on HAART-eligible women enrolled in the California (n=439), Illinois (n=168), and New York (n=487) Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) sites. A subset of HIV-infected women with hypertension (n=395) was also analyzed. Unadjusted and adjusted backward stepwise elimination logistic regression measured the association between demographic, behavioral, and health service factors and non-use of HAART or antihypertensive medication.

Results

In adjusted analysis of HAART non-use, women without ADAP were significantly more likely not to use HAART (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5–3.7) than women with ADAP. In adjusted analysis of antihypertensive medication non-use, women without ADAP had an increased but not significant odds of antihypertensive medication non-use (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 0.93–6.0) than women with ADAP.

Conclusions

Government-funded programs for prescription drug coverage, such as ADAP, may play an important role in how HIV-positive women to access and use essential medications for chronic diseases.