Trial reportPloS one2015
Measuring Patient Adherence to Malaria Treatment: A Comparison of Results from Self-Report and a Customised Electronic Monitoring Device.
Trial report in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 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
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adherence to anti-malarials among patients diagnosed with malaria in East Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2025Pooled it
- Adherence to treatment with artemether-lumefantrine or amodiaquine-artesunate for uncomplicated malaria in children in Sierra Leone: a randomized trial.Malaria journal · 2018Trial
- Adherence to home fortification with micronutrient powders in Kenyan pre-school children: self-reporting and sachet counts compared to an electronic monitoring device.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Making the most of existing antimalarial medicines: a single dose cure with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus artesunate-pyronaridine.Malaria journal · 2025Review
- Impact of health education intervention on the patients' adherence to malaria artemisinin-based combination therapy in Kamuli District, Uganda.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Adapting malaria indicator surveys to investigate treatment adherence: a pilot study on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Innovative Approaches to Enhance and Measure Medication Adherence in Chronic Disease Management: A Review.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Review
- Medication adherence framework: A population-based pharmacokinetic approach and its application in antimalarial treatment assessments.CPT: pharmacometrics & systems pharmacology · 2024Article
- Factors influencing patients' adherence to malaria artemisinin-based combination therapy in Kamuli District, Uganda.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Determinants of Patients' Adherence to Malaria Treatment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2022Article
- Technologies for Medication Adherence Monitoring and Technology Assessment Criteria: Narrative Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Review
- Electronic Smart Blister Packages to Monitor and Support Medication Adherence: A Usability Study.Patient preference and adherence · 2022Article
- A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study of Self-Reported Adherence and Factors Associated with Analgesic Treatment in People with Chronic Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Coverage of community case management for malaria through CHWs: a quantitative assessment using primary household surveys of high-burden areas in Chhattisgarh state of India.Malaria journal · 2020Article
- Adherence and Population Pharmacokinetic Properties of Amodiaquine When Used for Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in African Children.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2020Article
- Modelling the cost-effectiveness of introducing subsidised malaria rapid diagnostic tests in the private retail sector in sub-Saharan Africa.BMJ global health · 2020Article
- Adherence, Awareness, Access, and Use of Standard Diagnosis and Treatment Guideline for Malaria Case Management among Healthcare Workers in Meatu, Tanzania.Journal of tropical medicine · 2020Article
- Does Antiretroviral Therapy Packaging Matter? Perceptions and Preferences of Antiretroviral Therapy Packaging for People Living with HIV in Northern Tanzania.Patient preference and adherence · 2020Article
- Poor-quality antimalarials further health inequities in Uganda.Health policy and planning · 2019Article
- Medication Event Monitoring System for Infectious Tuberculosis Treatment in Morocco: A Retrospective Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSelf-report is the most common and feasible method for assessing patient adherence to medication, but can be prone to recall bias and social desirability bias. Most studies assessing adherence to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have relied on self-report. In this study, we use a novel customised electronic monitoring device--termed smart blister packs--to examine the validity of self-reported adherence to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) in southern Tanzania.
methodsSmart blister packs were designed to look identical to locally available AL blister packs and to record the date and time each tablet was removed from packaging. Patients obtaining AL at randomly selected health facilities and drug stores were followed up at home three days later and interviewed about each dose of AL taken. Blister packs were requested for pill count and extraction of smart blister pack data.
resultsData on adherence from both self-report verified by pill count and smart blister packs were available for 696 of 1,204 patients. There was no difference between methods in the proportion of patients assessed to have completed treatment (64% and 67%, respectively). However, the percentage taking the correct number of pills for each dose at the correct times (timely completion) was higher by self-report than smart blister packs (37% vs. 24%; p<0.0001). By smart blister packs, 64% of patients completing treatment did not take the correct number of pills per dose or did not take each dose at the correct time interval.
conclusionSmart blister packs resulted in lower estimates of timely completion of AL and may be less prone to recall and social desirability bias. They may be useful when data on patterns of adherence are desirable to evaluate treatment outcomes. Improved methods of collecting self-reported data are needed to minimise bias and maximise comparability between studies.
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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.