Marli Gerenutti
1*, Adriana Michel Vieira Martinez
1,2, Cristiane de Cassia Bergamaschi
11 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universidade de Sorocaba (UNISO), Sorocaba, Brazil.
2 Specialized Municipal Assistance Service (SAME) in HIV/AIDS, Sorocaba, Brazil.
Abstract
Purpose:
To verify the effectiveness of a pharmaceutical care model developed by the
Specialized Municipal Assistance Service in Sorocaba, Brazil, on adherence to
ART among patients infected with HIV.
Methods: A cohort study compared adherence to ART in two groups of patients:
intervention group (patients assisted with pharmaceutical care, n=130) and
non-intervention group (patients attended by the habitual dispensing process,
n=229). Antiretroviral adherence was measured by the number of pharmacy refill
records in a six-month period. The relationship between the use of other drugs
for the treatment of opportunistic infections and the adherence rate in the
intervention group and the correlation between adherence and viral load and CD4
lymphocytes were also assessed.
Results: Higher adherence rates were observed in the
intervention group (p<0.05). The use of others drugs did not influence
adherence to ART (p=0.30). There was a positive correlation between adherence
and the percentage of patients in the intervention group with undetectable
viral loads (p=0.0004) and higher levels of CD4 lymphocytes (p=0.0024).
Conclusion: The pharmaceutical care model developed by the SAME
improved patient adherence to ART as well as clinical outcomes.