Targets for intervention to improve virological outcomes for patients receiving free antiretroviral therapy in Tamil Nadu, India.

Operational research to identify factors predicting poor clinical outcomes is critical to maximize patient care and prolong first-line regimens for those receiving free antiretroviral therapy (ART) in India. We sought to identify social or clinical factors amenable to intervention that predict virological outcomes after 12 months of ART. We examined a retrospective cohort of consecutive adults initiating free nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based regimens.

Pharmacy and self-report adherence measures to predict virological outcomes for patients on free antiretroviral therapy in Tamil Nadu, India.

Over 480,000 individuals receive free antiretroviral therapy (ART) in India yet data associating ART adherence with HIV viral load for populations exclusively receiving free ART are not available. Additionally estimates of adherence using pharmacy data on ART pick-up are not available for any population in India. After 12-months ART we found self-reported estimates of adherence were not associated with HIV viral load.