Experience with antiretroviral electronic adherence monitoring among young African American men who have sex with men living with HIV: findings to inform a triaged real-time alert intervention.

We performed a pilot study among young African-American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) of real-time electronic adherence monitoring (EAM) in Chicago to explore acceptability and feasibility of EAM and to inform intervention development. We recruited 40 young AAMSM living with HIV on ART to participate in up to 3 months of monitoring with the Wisepill device. Participants were interviewed at baseline, in response to the first true adjudicated 1-dose, 3-day, and 7-day misses, and at the end of monitoring. Reasons for missing doses and the acceptability and feasibility of electronic monitoring were assessed using mixed methods. The median participant observation time was 90 days (N = 40). For 21 participants with 90 days of follow-up, <90% and <80% adherence occurred in 82% and 79%, respectively in at least one of their monitored months (n = 63 monitored months). The participants generally found the proposed intervention acceptable and useful. Although seven participants said the device attracted attention, none said it led to disclosure of their HIV status. This study found real-time EAM to be generally acceptable and feasible among YAAMSM living with HIV in Chicago. Future work will develop a triaged real-time EAM intervention including text alerts following detection of nonadherence.

A triaged real-time alert intervention to improve antiretroviral therapy adherence among young African American men who have sex with men living with HIV: focus group findings.

BACKGROUND: Among persons living with HIV, poorer antiretroviral therapy adherence has been reported in African Americans and disproportionate mortality reported in young African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) compared to whites. We report the results of focus groups with young AAMSM living with HIV that explore their opinions about the acceptability and feasibility of a triaged real-time missed dose alert intervention to improve treatment adherence. The purpose of this study is to develop a theory-driven triaged real-time adherence monitoring intervention to promote HIV medication adherence in young AAMSM. METHODS: We performed five focus groups and two individual interviews among young HIV-positive AAMSM (n = 25) in Chicago guided by the Technology Acceptance Model and explored perceptions regarding the monitoring concept including device issues and concerns about inclusion of support persons whose involvement is triggered by sustained missed doses. The purpose was to inform the development of this intervention in this population. RESULTS: Generally, the participants found the proposed intervention acceptable and useful. Privacy was a major concern for participants especially with attention to possible disclosure of their HIV status by receiving a medication-related text that someone else might view and could lead to unwanted attention. There was concern that the device could be confused with a taser. Approximately half of the men already had a close personal contact that helped them with medication taking. Some participants acknowledged that the notification might lead to friction. CONCLUSIONS: A triaged real-time alert intervention to improve treatment adherence is acceptable and feasible among young AAMSM living with HIV.