Study: Texting to improve medication adherence in HIV patients shows high engagement according to : Mobi Health News

Improving medication adherence is on the wish list of many healthcare stakeholders. "In theory this should lead to more targeted and effective provider intervention in the realm of medication adherence and improved patient outcomes in a way that would be impossible with other text message–based medication adherence systems," they write. Given the multitude of reasons why people don't stick with their prescriptions, there isn't just one successful modality to improve their adherence. Researchers found engagement levels to be high, never dropping below 75 percent over an 11-week period, and found that the technology offered opportunities to intervene. Moreover, it could lead to a more nuanced understanding of exactly why each individual isn't taking their medication, thereby informing personalized adherence efforts as well as valuable drug efficacy and safety data.




The integrated programme is aimed at eradicating hypertension which causes sudden deaths especially among HIV positive persons. They say hypertension which result into sudden deaths has become a common opportunistic disease affecting those living with the Virus. "Many people who suffer from HIV are vulnerable to contracting hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases," said Mulvaney. Speaking during the launch of the program on Tuesday, AstraZeneca Senior Director Ashling Mulvaney and the organisation Chief Compliance Officer Katarina Agemborg said a number of HIV positive persons are prone to hypertension. She expressed concern that there are many people who unknowingly suffer from hypertension.

Young HIV patients can now live a normal life with the help of new drugs

"However, further efforts are needed if life expectancy is to match that of the general population," said Trickey. It involves a combination of three or more drugs that block the HIV virus from replicating, in order to prevent and repair damage to the immune system caused by HIV infection.It also prevents onward spread of the disease. "Our research illustrates a success story of how improved HIV treatments coupled with screening, prevention and treatment of health problems associated with HIV infection can extend the lifespan of people diagnosed with HIV," said lead author Adam Trickey , from the University of Bristol in the UK. LONDON: Young people with HIV may now have near-normal life expectancy because of the improvement in treatments, a new study in The Lancet journal suggests.Life expectancy of a 20-year-old who began antiretroviral therapy from 2008 onwards and had a low viral load after a year of treatment may approach that of the general population - around 78 years old, researchers said.These increases are among treated individuals, and are in addition to dramatic life expectancy improvements that occurred after the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in the mid 1990s compared with untreated individuals, they said.The findings could reduce stigmatisation and help people with HIV gain employment and obtain medical insurance, as well as encouraging those diagnosed to start treatment as soon as possible and continue it fully. "Combination antiretroviral therapy has been used to treat HIV for 20 years, but newer drugs have fewer side effects, involve taking fewer pills, better prevent replication of the virus and are more difficult for the virus to become resistant to," he said.The improvements are likely to be a result of the transition to less toxic antiretroviral therapy with more drug options for people infected with a drug-resistant HIV strain and better adherence to treatment, researchers said.This is in addition to improved treatment of co-occurring conditions and opportunistic infections, and increased use of screening and prevention programmes for conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.Antiretroviral therapy first became widely used in 1996.


collected by :Lucy William
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