ArticleBMC public health2011
Measuring adherence to antiretroviral therapy in northern Tanzania: feasibility and acceptability of the Medication Event Monitoring System.
Article in BMC public health, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Aging, antiretrovirals, and adherence: a meta analysis of adherence among older HIV-infected individuals.Drugs & aging · 2013Pooled it
- Trial
- Effect of Digital Adherence Tools on Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment Among Adults Living With HIV in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2021Trial
- A Peer-Led HIV Medication Adherence Intervention Targeting Adults Linked to Medical Care but without a Suppressed Viral Load.Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS CareTrial
- Feasibility, acceptability and validity of electronic adherence monitoring among adolescents in Zimbabwe: a mixed methods study.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- A liquid- and capsule-compatible hydroxyurea electronic monitor to identify non-adherent youth with sickle cell disease.PloS one · 2026Article
- Technologies for Medication Adherence Monitoring and Technology Assessment Criteria: Narrative Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Review
- "I Wish to Continue Receiving the Reminder Short Messaging Service": A Mixed Methods Study on the Acceptability of Digital Adherence Tools Among Adults Living with HIV on Antiretroviral Treatment in Tanzania.Patient preference and adherence · 2021Article
- Technical and Psychosocial Challenges of mHealth Usage for Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among People Living With HIV in a Resource-Limited Setting: Case Series.JMIR formative research · 2020Article
- Low levels of HIV-1 drug resistance mutations in patients who achieved viral re-suppression without regimen switch: a retrospective study.BMC microbiology · 2020Article
- A triaged real-time alert intervention to improve antiretroviral therapy adherence among young African American men who have sex with men living with HIV: focus group findings.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Predictors of non adherence to antiretroviral therapy at an urban HIV care and treatment center in Tanzania.Drug, healthcare and patient safety · 2018Article
- Predicting short-term interruptions of antiretroviral therapy from summary adherence data: Development and test of a probability model.PloS one · 2018Article
- Ethical Questions in Medical Electronic Adherence Monitoring.Journal of general internal medicine · 2016Review
- Binge drinking is associated with differences in weekday and weekend adherence in HIV-infected individuals.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2016Article
- Biomarkers and biometric measures of adherence to use of ARV-based vaginal rings.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2016Review
- The adherence-outcome relationship is not altered by diary-driven adjustments of microelectronic monitor data.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2015Article
- Monitoring microbicide gel use with real-time notification of the container's opening events: results of the CAPRISA Wisebag study.AIDS and behavior · 2014Article
- Determinants of antiretroviral therapy adherence in northern Tanzania: a comprehensive picture from the patient perspective.BMC public health · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAn often-used tool to measure adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS), an electronic pill-cap that registers date and time of pill-bottle openings. Despite its strengths, MEMS-data can be compromised by inaccurate use and acceptability problems due to its design. These barriers remain, however, to be investigated in resource-limited settings. We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of using MEMS-caps to monitor adherence among HIV-infected patients attending a rural clinic in Tanzania's Kilimanjaro Region.
methodsEligible patients were approached and asked to use the MEMS-caps for three consecutive months. Thereafter, qualitative, in-depth interviews about the use of MEMS were conducted with the patients. MEMS-data were used to corroborate the interview results.
resultsTwenty-three of the 24 patients approached agreed to participate. Apart from MEMS-use on travel occasions, patients reported no barriers regarding MEMS-use. Unexpectedly, the MEMS-bottle design reduced the patients' fear for HIV-status disclosure. Patients indicated that having their behavior monitored motivated them to adhere better. MEMS-data showed that most patients had high levels of adherence and there were no bottle-openings that could not be accounted for by medication intake. Non-adherence in the days prior to clinic visits was common and due to the clinic dispensing too few pills.
conclusionMEMS-bottle use was readily accepted by patients. Although the MEMS-bottle was used accurately by most patients, patients need to be more explicitly instructed to continue MEMS-use when travelling. Even HIV-clinics with sufficient staff and free medication may impose structural adherence barriers by supplying an insufficient amount of pills.
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