Improving self-report measures of non-adherence to HIV medications

Abstract

The aim of this article is to clarify what factors should be measured to assess non-adherence to an antiretroviral medication regimen among individuals with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In order to consider a patient as non-adherent, a clear operational definition of medication non-adherence should be formulated. This definition should specify the medication to be taken, the medical advice to be followed as well as the behaviors a patient should adopt in a given period of time. Techniques aimed at reducing the influence of several potential biases in self-report questionnaires, such as forgetfulness and social desirability, are also reviewed.

Keywords:

• Adherence
• medication
• measurement
• AIDS
• questionnaire

Acknowledgement

The preparation of this article was partially supported by a grant from the AIDS/STD Network of the Quebec Health Research Funds.

Notes

¹ Forward telescoping is the tendency of respondents to remember an event as having occurred more recently than it actually did (Sudman & Bradburn, 1982).