SynthesisPloS one2014
How patients take malaria treatment: a systematic review of the literature on adherence to antimalarial drugs.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
86 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Reactive Case Detection and Treatment and Reactive Drug Administration for Reducing Malaria Transmission: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Pooled it
- Contextual Factors to Improve Implementation of Malaria Chemoprevention in Children: A Systematic Review.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of adherence to primaquine on the risk of Plasmodium vivax recurrence: a WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2023Pooled it
- Methods to Assess Adult and Adolescent Patients' Adherence to Antimalarial Treatment: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Asymptomatic recrudescence after artemether-lumefantrine treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Artemisinin-Piperaquine for the Treatment of Uncomplicated Malaria: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Pooled it
- House screening for malaria control: views and experiences of participants in the RooPfs trial.Malaria journal · 2022Trial
- Supervised versus unsupervised primaquine radical cure for the treatment of falciparum and vivax malaria in Papua, Indonesia: a cluster-randomised, controlled, open-label superiority trial.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2022Trial
- Adherence to Mass Drug Administration with Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine andThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Trial
- Provider and household costs ofBulletin of the World Health Organization · 2019Trial
- Short-course primaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria: a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled non-inferiority trial.Lancet (London, England) · 2019Trial
- Adherence to treatment with artemether-lumefantrine or amodiaquine-artesunate for uncomplicated malaria in children in Sierra Leone: a randomized trial.Malaria journal · 2018Trial
- Comparison of artemether-lumefantrine and chloroquine with and without primaquine for the treatment of Plasmodium vivax infection in Ethiopia: A randomized controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2017Trial
- Efficacy of text-message reminders on paediatric malaria treatment adherence and their post-treatment return to health facilities in Kenya: a randomized controlled trial.Malaria journal · 2017Trial
- Can Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Malaria Increase Adherence to Artemether-Lumefantrine?: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Uganda.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2016Trial
- Costs and cost-effectiveness of a large-scale mass testing and treatment intervention for malaria in Southern Province, Zambia.Malaria journal · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Cluster randomized trial of text message reminders to retail staff in tanzanian drug shops dispensing artemether-lumefantrine: effect on dispenser knowledge and patient adherence.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2014Trial
- Efficacy of artemether lumefantrine vs chloroquine for the treatment of Plasmodium Vivax infection in Pakistan.Scientific reports · 2026Observational
- Understanding barriers to effective malaria diagnosis and treatment: A mixed-methods study in Uganda, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHigh levels of patient adherence to antimalarial treatment are important in ensuring drug effectiveness. To achieve this goal, it is important to understand levels of patient adherence, and the range of study designs and methodological challenges involved in measuring adherence and interpreting results. Since antimalarial adherence was reviewed in 2004, there has been a major expansion in the use of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in the public sector, as well as initiatives to make them more widely accessible through community health workers and private retailers. These changes and the large number of recent adherence studies raise the need for an updated review on this topic.
objectiveWe conducted a systematic review of studies reporting quantitative results on patient adherence to antimalarials obtained for treatment.
resultsThe 55 studies identified reported extensive variation in patient adherence to antimalarials, with many studies reporting very high adherence (90-100%) and others finding adherence of less than 50%. We identified five overarching approaches to assessing adherence based on the definition of adherence and the methods used to measure it. Overall, there was no clear pattern in adherence results by approach. However, adherence tended to be higher among studies where informed consent was collected at the time of obtaining the drug, where patient consultations were directly observed by research staff, and where a diagnostic test was obtained.
conclusionVariations in reported adherence may reflect factors related to patient characteristics and the nature of their consultation with the provider, as well as methodological variations such as interaction between the research team and patients before and during the treatment. Future studies can benefit from an awareness of the impact of study procedures on adherence outcomes, and the identification of improved measurement methods less dependent on self-report.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.