ArticlePloS one2013
Free HIV antiretroviral therapy enhances adherence among individuals on stable treatment: implications for potential shortfalls in free antiretroviral therapy.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Free antiretrovirals as a key tool against the HIV pandemic: A systematic review.HIV medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Applications and reporting of causal inference modelling in infectious disease studies: A systematic review.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2026Article
- Exploring attitudes and perceptions of patients and staff towards an after-hours co-pay clinic supplementing free HIV services in Kampala, Uganda.BMC health services research · 2017Article
- Prevalence of nonadherence and its associated factors affecting on HIV adults follow-up at antiretroviral therapy clinic in Batu Hospital, Eastern Ethiopia.Indian journal of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDSArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo estimate the population-level causal effect of source of payment for HIV medication on treatment adherence using Marginal Structural Models.
methodsData were obtained from an observational cohort of 76 HIV-infected individuals with at least 24 weeks of antiretroviral therapy treatment from 2002 to 2007 in Kampala, Uganda. Adherence was the primary outcome and it was measured using the 30-day visual analogue scale. Marginal structural models (MSM) were used to estimate the effect of source of payment for HIV medication on adherence, adjusting for confounding by income, duration on antiretroviral therapy (ART), timing of visit, prior adherence, prior CD4⁺ T cell count and prior plasma HIV RNA. Traditional association models were also examined and the results compared.
resultsFree HIV treatment was associated with a 3.8% improvement in adherence in the marginal structural model, while the traditional statistical models showed a 3.1-3.3% improvement in adherence associated with free HIV treatment.
conclusionRemoving a financial barrier to treatment with ART by providing free HIV treatment appears to significantly improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy. With sufficient information on confounders, MSMs can be used to make robust inferences about causal effects in epidemiologic research.
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Registered trials
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