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01-12-2014 | Original Paper

Unannounced Telephone-Based Pill Counts: A Valid and Feasible Method for Monitoring Adherence

Authors: R. Fredericksen, B. J. Feldman, T. Brown, S. Schmidt, P. K. Crane, R. D. Harrington, S. Dhanireddy, J. McReynolds, W. B. Lober, D. R. Bangsberg, M. M. Kitahata, Heidi M. Crane

Published in: AIDS and Behavior | Issue 12/2014

Abstract

Phone-based unannounced pill counts to measure medication adherence are much more practical and less expensive than home-based unannounced pill counts, but their validity has not been widely assessed. We examined the validity of phone versus home-based pill counts using a simplified protocol streamlined for studies embedded in clinical care settings. A total of 100 paired counts were used to compare concordance between unannounced phone and home-based pill counts using interclass correlations. Discrepancy analyses using χ² tests compared demographic and clinical characteristics across patients who were concordant between phone and home-based pill counts and patients who were not concordant. Concordance was high for phone-based and home-based unannounced total pill counts, as well as individual medication counts and calculated adherence. This study demonstrates that a simplified phone-based pill count protocol can be implemented among patients from a routine clinical care setting and is a feasible means of monitoring medication adherence.

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Title: Unannounced Telephone-Based Pill Counts: A Valid and Feasible Method for Monitoring Adherence
Authors: R. Fredericksen
B. J. Feldman
T. Brown
S. Schmidt
P. K. Crane
R. D. Harrington
S. Dhanireddy
J. McReynolds
W. B. Lober
D. R. Bangsberg
M. M. Kitahata
Heidi M. Crane
Publication date: 01-12-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: AIDS and Behavior / Issue 12/2014
Print ISSN: 1090-7165
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3254
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0916-7

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