Discrepancies between self-report and objective measures for stimulant drug use in HIV: cognitive, medication adherence and psychological correlates

Exploring patient medication adherence and data mining methods in clinical big data: A contemporary review

BACKGROUND

Increasingly, patient medication adherence data are being consolidated from claims databases and electronic health records (EHRs). Such databases offer an indirect avenue to gauge medication adherence in our data-rich healthcare milieu. The surge in data accessibility, coupled with the pressing need for its conversion to actionable insights, has spotlighted data mining, with machine learning (ML) emerging as a pivotal technique. Nonadherence poses heightened health risks and escalates medical costs. This paper elucidates the synergistic interaction between medical database mining for medication adherence and the role of ML in fostering knowledge discovery.

METHODS

We conducted a comprehensive review of EHR applications in the realm of medication adherence, leveraging ML techniques. We expounded on the evolution and structure of medical databases pertinent to medication adherence and harnessed both supervised and unsupervised ML paradigms to delve into adherence and its ramifications.

RESULTS

Our study underscores the applications of medical databases and ML, encompassing both supervised and unsupervised learning, for medication adherence in clinical big data. Databases like SEER and NHANES, often underutilized due to their intricacies, have gained prominence. Employing ML to excavate patient medication logs from these databases facilitates adherence analysis. Such findings are pivotal for clinical decision-making, risk stratification, and scholarly pursuits, aiming to elevate healthcare quality.

CONCLUSION

Advanced data mining in the era of big data has revolutionized medication adherence research, thereby enhancing patient care. Emphasizing bespoke interventions and research could herald transformative shifts in therapeutic modalities.

Factors Influencing Self-Reported Medication Use in the Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Dataset

The validity of self-reported medication use in epidemiological studies is an important issue in healthcare research. Here we investigated factors influencing self-reported medication use for multiple diagnoses in the seventh wave of the Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) dataset in n = 77,261 participants (ages: mean = 68.47, standard deviation = 10.03 years). The influence of mental, physical, and sociodemographic parameters on medication self-report was analyzed with logistic regressions and mediation models. Depression, memory function, and polypharmacy influenced the self-report of medication use in distinct disorders to varying degrees. In addition, sociodemographic factors, knowledge about diagnosis, the presence of several chronic illnesses, and restrictions of daily instrumental activities explained the largest proportion of variance. In the mediation model, polypharmacy had an indirect effect via depression and memory on self-reported medication use. Factors influencing medication self-report vary between different diagnoses, highlighting the complexity of medication knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to assess the individual parameters and their effect on medication behavior. Relying solely on medication self-reports is insufficient, as there is no way to gage their reliability. Thus, self-reported medication intake should be used with caution to indicate the actual medication knowledge and use.

Work stress and turnover intention among Chinese rural school principals: A mediated moderation study

To test the impact of work stress on Chinese rural school principal turnover intention, 490 rural school principals in the mainland of China were asked to participate in a survey. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that work stress had a positive relation with turnover intention, while achievement motivation and place attachment had negative relations. Additionally, place attachment was a protective factor that could reduce the negative effect of work stress on job satisfaction or the positive effect of work stress on turnover intention. Additionally, the moderating effects of place attachment were mediated by job satisfaction. These findings can enrich our understanding of the relation between work stress and school principal turnover behavior and can provide some suggestions for reducing school principal turnover intention in developing countries such as the mainland of China.

Microbicides and their potential as a catalyst for multipurpose sexual and reproductive health technologies

There is an urgent need for technologies to prevent sexual acquisition of HIV infection in young women in sub-Saharan Africa. After two decades of 11 pivotal trials of seven products, anti-retroviral-based topical microbicides are showing promise. Building on the CAPRISA 004 trial findings, several trials of new anti-viral agents, novel delivery mechanisms and combination/multipurpose products that address challenges of adherence and meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of men and women, including preventing HIV infection, are underway.

Measuring adherence by visual inspection of returned empty gel applicators in the CAPRISA 004 microbicide trial

In the CAPRISA 004 trial, adherence was estimated as the proportion of reported sex acts covered by two gel doses, which was assessed by counting returned empty gel applicators. The returned empty applicators were inspected visually in a standardized manner for residue on the outside of the applicator, as an indicator of vaginal insertion. Over 15 months, spanning 11,839 study visits by 838 women, a total of 59,800 returned empty applicators were inspected. By visual assessment, 77.5 % of these applicators appeared to have been inserted. To test the accuracy of the assessment we fitted a Cox model and found that the risk for HIV infection was doubled when less than half of the returned empty applicators had been assessed as not inserted in the vagina. Visual inspection enhanced both the accuracy of the adherence measurement and aided identification of mechanical problems with applicator use experienced by women in the trial.

Aggregate versus day level association between methamphetamine use and HIV medication non-adherence among gay and bisexual men

Methamphetamine use is associated with HIV infection, especially among gay and bisexual men. Methamphetamine use contributes to disease progression both directly, by increasing viral load and damaging the immune system, and indirectly, by decreasing medication adherence. Research examining the association of methamphetamine use and non-adherence has traditionally compared groups of users and nonusers on adherence, compared methamphetamine use between participants above or below some threshold level of adherence (e.g. >90 % dose adherence), or examined aggregate relationships. Using Timeline Follow-back procedures, the present study examined aggregate, threshold, and day-level associations of methamphetamine use with non-adherence in 210 HIV-positive gay and bisexual methamphetamine-using men. Methamphetamine use was not associated with adherence behavior at the aggregate-level, but methamphetamine use on a given day was associated with 2.3 times the odds of non-adherence on that day. Threshold results were equivocal. These data suggest that the methamphetamine and non-adherence relationship is complicated: non-adherence is more likely to occur on days in which methamphetamine is used, but participants reported more non-adherence days in which methamphetamine was not used. This seeming paradox generates questions about the selection of analytical techniques and has important implications for behavioral interventions targeting substance use and adherence among HIV-positive individuals.

Isolating cognitive and neurologic HIV effects in substance-dependent, confounded cohorts: a pilot study

Controversy exists as to whether effects of HIV infection can be detected in the cognitive profiles of substance users, with methodological differences in degree of control for confounding factors a major contributor to empirical discrepancies. To address this shortcoming, we conducted a small but well-controlled study aimed at isolating HIV neurocognitive (NC) effects in a group of chronic substance users. Thirty HIV-negative substance users were individually matched to 30 HIV-positive substance users on relevant medical and demographic factors, including reading level and methadone therapy status. Results revealed that reading level, methadone maintenance therapy, and positive urine toxicology each exerted significant influence on NC function, and that HIV status was a significant predictor of learning and speeded processing after these control factors were considered. The HIV-positive group also displayed significantly more neurologically assessed motor impairment (p < .05), which was specifically related to impaired cognition in this group and independent of degree of immunocompromise. These data demonstrate the need for increased attention to clinical/demographic characteristics of groups under study. They also show that with applied methodological rigor, the deleterious effects of HIV on cognition can be parsed from substance use, even in small samples with chronic and active use histories.

Association between use of specific drugs and antiretroviral adherence: findings from MACH 14

To determine the association between individual substances of abuse and antiretroviral adherence, analyses require a large sample assessed using electronic data monitoring (EDM). In this analysis, EDM data from 1,636 participants in 12 US adherence-focused studies were analyzed to determine the associations between recent use of various substances and adherence during the preceding 4 weeks. In bivariate analyses comparing adherence among patients who had used a specific substance to those who had not, adherence was significantly lower among those who had recently used cocaine, other stimulants or heroin but not among those who had used cannabis or alcohol. In multivariate analyses controlling for sociodemographics, amount of alcohol use and recent use of any alcohol, cocaine, other stimulants and heroin each was significantly negatively associated with adherence. The significant associations of cocaine, other stimulants, heroin, and alcohol use with adherence suggest that these are important substances to target with adherence-focused interventions.

Validation of the adherence evaluation of osteoporosis treatment (ADEOS) questionnaire for osteoporotic post-menopausal women

SUMMARY

We developed and validated a specific 12-item questionnaire to evaluate adherence to oral antiresorptive medication by post-menopausal osteoporotic women in everyday practice. Over the following 9 months, an index of ≤16 was associated with an increase in the risk of treatment discontinuation of 1.69 and of 2.10 for new patients who had started treatment within the previous year.

INTRODUCTION

Adherence to medication in osteoporosis is poor. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a disease-specific questionnaire to evaluate adherence to treatment of women with post-menopausal osteoporosis taking oral antiresorptive medication.

METHODS

A prototype adherence questionnaire with 45 items developed from patient interview, literature review, and physician opinion was evaluated in a sample of 350 post-menopausal women with osteoporosis treated in primary care. Item responses were matched against scores on the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). The most discriminant items were retained in the final questionnaire. Concurrent and predictive validity were assessed.

RESULTS

Twelve items were associated with MMAS score at a probability level of 0.05. These were retained in the final questionnaire which provided an adherence index ranging from 0 to 22. An index of ≥20 was associated with a high probability of persistence and an index ≤ 16 with a high probability of treatment discontinuation in the following 9 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The ADEOS-12 is a simple patient-reported measure to determine adherence to osteoporosis treatments with good concurrent and discriminant validity. This is the first disease-specific adherence measure to have been developed for osteoporosis.

Neurocognitive impact of substance use in HIV infection

BACKGROUND

: To determine how serious a confound substance use (SU) might be in studies on HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), we examined the relationship of SU history to neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in participants enrolled in the Central Nervous System HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research study.

METHODS

: After excluding cases with behavioral evidence of acute intoxication and histories of factors that independently could account for NCI (eg, stroke), baseline demographic, medical, SU, and neurocognitive data were analyzed from 399 participants. Potential SU risk for NCI was determined by the following criteria: lifetime SU Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition diagnosis, self-report of marked lifetime SU, or positive urine toxicology. Participants were divided into 3 groups as follows: no SU (n = 134), nonsyndromic SU (n = 131), syndromic SU (n = 134) and matched on literacy level, nadir CD4, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

: Although approximately 50% of the participants were diagnosed with HAND, a multivariate analysis of covariance of neurocogntive summary scores, covarying for urine toxicology, revealed no significant effect of SU status. Correlational analyses indicated weak associations between lifetime heroin dosage and poor recall and working memory and between cannabis and cocaine use and better verbal fluency.

CONCLUSIONS

: These data indicate that HIV neurocognitive effects are seen at about the same frequency in those with and without historic substance abuse in cases that are equated on other factors that might contribute to NCI. Therefore, studies on neuroAIDS and its treatment need not exclude such cases. However, the effects of acute SU and current SU disorders on HAND require further study.

Prospective memory in substance abusers at treatment entry: associations with education, neuropsychological functioning, and everyday memory lapses

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) commonly report lapses in prospective memory (PM) in their daily lives; however, our understanding of the profile and predictors of laboratory-based PM deficits in SUDs and their associations with everyday PM failures is still very preliminary. The current study examined these important questions using well-validated measures of self-report and laboratory-based PM in a mixed cohort of 53 SUD individuals at treatment entry and 44 healthy adults. Consistent with prior research, the SUD group endorsed significantly more self-cued and environmentally based PM failures in their daily lives. Moreover, the SUD group demonstrated significantly lower time-based PM performance, driven largely by cue detection errors. The effect of SUDs on PM was particularly strong among participants with fewer years of education. Within the SUD cohort, time-based PM was correlated with clinical measures assessing executive functions, retrospective memory, and psychomotor speed. Importantly, time-based PM was uniquely associated with elevated PM failures in daily lives of the SUD participants, independent of current affective distress and other neurocognitive deficits. Findings suggest that individuals with SUD are vulnerable to deficits in PM, which may in turn increase their risk for poorer everyday functioning outcomes (e.g., treatment non-compliance).

Incongruence in doping related attitudes, beliefs and opinions in the context of discordant behavioural data: in which measure do we trust?

Background

Social psychology research on doping and outcome based evaluation of primary anti-doping prevention and intervention programmes have been dominated by self-reports. Having confidence in the validity and reliability of such data is vital.

Methodology/Principal Findings

The sample of 82 athletes from 30 sports (52.4% female, mean age: 21.48±2.86 years) was split into quasi-experimental groups based on i) self-admitted previous experience with prohibited performance enhancing drugs (PED) and ii) the presence of at least one prohibited PED in hair covering up to 6 months prior to data collection. Participants responded to questionnaires assessing a range of social cognitive determinants of doping via self-reports; and completed a modified version of the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT) assessing implicit attitudes to doping relative to the acceptable nutritional supplements (NS). Social projection regarding NS was used as control.

PEDs were detected in hair samples from 10 athletes (12% prevalence), none of whom admitted doping use. This group of ‘deniers’ was characterised by a dissociation between explicit (verbal declarations) and implicit (BIAT) responding, while convergence was observed in the ‘clean’ athlete group. This dissociation, if replicated, may act as a cognitive marker of the denier group, with promising applications of the combined explicit-implicit cognitive protocol as a proxy in lieu of biochemical detection methods in social science research. Overall, discrepancies in the relationship between declared doping-related opinion and implicit doping attitudes were observed between the groups, with control measures remaining unaffected. Questionnaire responses showed a pattern consistent with self-reported doping use.

Conclusions/Significance

Following our preliminary work, this study provides further evidence that both self-reports on behaviour and social cognitive measures could be affected by some form of response bias. This can question the validity of self-reports, with reliability remaining unaffected. Triangulation of various assessment methods is recommended.

Correlation between adherence rates measured by MEMS and self-reported questionnaires: a meta-analysis

Purpose

It is vital to understand the associations between the medication event monitoring systems (MEMS) and self-reported questionnaires (SRQs) because both are often used to measure medication adherence and can produce different results. In addition, the economic implication of using alternative measures is important as the cost of electronic monitoring devices is not covered by insurance, while self-reports are the most practical and cost-effective method in the clinical settings. This meta-analysis examined the correlations of two measurements of medication adherence: MEMS and SRQs.

Methods

The literature search (1980-2009) used PubMed, OVID MEDLINE, PsycINFO (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO), OVID HealthStar, EMBASE (Elsevier), and Cochrane Databases. Studies were included if the correlation coefficients [Pearson (r_p) or Spearman (r_s)] between adherences measured by both MEMS and SRQs were available or could be calculated from other statistics in the articles. Data were independently abstracted in duplicate with standardized protocol and abstraction form including 1) first author's name; 2) year of publication; 3) disease status of participants; 4) sample size; 5) mean age (year); 6) duration of trials (month); 7) SRQ names if available; 8) adherence (%) measured by MEMS; 9) adherence (%) measured by SRQ; 10) correlation coefficient and relative information, including p-value, 95% confidence interval (CI). A meta-analysis was conducted to pool the correlation coefficients using random-effect model.

Results

Eleven studies (N = 1,684 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The mean of adherence measured by MEMS was 74.9% (range 53.4%-92.9%), versus 84.0% by SRQ (range 68.35%-95%). The correlation between adherence measured by MEMS and SRQs ranged from 0.24 to 0.87. The pooled correlation coefficient for 11 studies was 0.45 (p = 0.001, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.34-0.56). The subgroup meta-analysis on the seven studies reporting r_p and four studies reporting r_s reported the pooled correlation coefficient: 0.46 (p = 0.011, 95% CI: 0.33-0.59) and 0.43 (p = 0.0038, 95% CI: 0.23-0.64), respectively. No differences were found for other subgroup analyses.

Conclusion

Medication adherence measured by MEMS and SRQs tends to be at least moderately correlated, suggesting that SRQs give a good estimate of medication adherence.

Medication and finance management among HIV-infected adults: the impact of age and cognition

This study examined the effects of aging and cognitive impairment on medication and finance management in an HIV sample. We observed main effects of age (older < younger) and neuropsychological impairment on functional task performance. Interactions between age and cognition demonstrated that older impaired individuals performed significantly more poorly than all other comparison groups. There were no relationships between laboratory performance and self-reported medication and finance management. The interaction of advancing age and cognitive impairment may confer significant functional limitations for HIV individuals that may be better detected by performance-based measures of functional abilities rather than patient self-report.

Psychiatric illness, access and adherence to HAART: a brief review of recent findings and implications for care

This review outlines research since 2006 addressing psychiatric illness and/or co-occurring psychiatric illness and substance abuse as it relates to HAART access and adherence. Highlighted here are effective or promising interventions, or models of care, designed to enhance adherence among HIV-infected individuals with mental illness. Overall, we found that recent studies reinforce earlier findings that co-occurring substance abuse and psychiatric illness are associated with HAART nonadherence. Studies of depression/anxiety disorders among HIV patients reviewed here show that while depression is related to poorer medication adherence, treatment for depression can lead to increased HAART adherence. New studies also suggest that HIV patients with psychiatric diagnoses can effectively maintain HAART adherence with close monitoring by providers. While there are still very few adherence interventions among HIV patients with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse, promising interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy and integration of mental health services with HIV primary care.

Prevalence and patient awareness of medical comorbidities in an urban AIDS clinic

Mortality in HIV-positive persons is increasingly due to non-HIV-related medical comorbidities. There are limited data on the prevalence and patient awareness of these comorbid conditions. Two hundred subjects at an urban HIV clinic were interviewed in 2005 to assess their awareness of 15 non-HIV-related medical comorbidities, defined as medical problems that are neither AIDS-defining by standard definitions, nor a direct effect of immune deficiency. Medical charts were subsequently reviewed to establish prevalence and concordance between self-report and chart documentation. Eighty-four percent of subjects self-reported at least 1 of 15 medical comorbidities and 92% had at least 1 condition chart-documented. The top 5 chart-documented conditions were hepatitis C (51.5%), pulmonary disease (28.5%), high blood pressure (27%), high cholesterol (24.5%), and obesity (22.5%). In multivariate analysis, higher number of non-HIV-related medical comorbidities was associated with older age, female gender, and intravenous drug use as route of HIV transmission. Across self-reported non-HIV-related medical comorbidities, the absolute concordance rate ranged from 67% to 96%, the sensitivity ranged from 0% to 79%; the positive predictive value ranged from 0% to 100%. While the vast majority of largely urban minority HIV-positive subjects were diagnosed with non-HIV-related medical comorbidities, there is significant room for improvement in patient awareness. In order to help patients optimally access and adhere to medication and medical care for these non-HIV-related medical comorbidities, interventions and educational campaigns to improve patient awareness that take cultural background, literacy, and educational level into account should be developed, implemented, and evaluated.

Concordance of adherence measurement using self-reported adherence questionnaires and medication monitoring devices

The primary objective of this review was to identify and examine the literature on the association between medication adherence self-reported questionnaires (SRQs) and medication monitoring devices. The primary literature search was performed for 1980-2009 using PubMed, PubMed In Process and Non-Indexed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process, PsycINFO (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO), Ovid HealthStar, EMBASE (Elsevier) and Cochrane Databases and using the following search terms: 'patient compliance', 'medication adherence', 'treatment compliance', 'drug monitoring', 'drug therapy', 'electronic', 'digital', 'computer', 'monitor', 'monitoring', 'drug', 'drugs', 'pharmaceutical preparations', 'compliance' and 'medications'. We identified studies that included SRQs and electronic monitoring devices to measure adherence and focused on the SRQs that were found to be moderately to highly correlated with the monitoring devices. Of the 1679 citations found via the primary search, 41 full-text articles were reviewed for correlation between monitoring devices and SRQs. A majority (68%) of articles reported high (27%), moderate (29%) or significant (12%) correlation between monitoring devices (37 using Medication Event Monitoring System [MEMS®] and four using other devices) and SRQs (11 identified and numerous other unnamed SRQs). The most commonly used SRQs were the Adult/Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Group (AACTG/PACTG; 24.4%, 10/41) followed by the 4-item Morisky (9.8%, 4/41), Brief Medication Questionnaire (9.8%, 4/41) and visual analogue scale (VAS; 7.3%, 3/41). Although study designs differed across the articles, SRQs appeared to report a higher rate of medication adherence (+14.9%) than monitoring devices. In conclusion, several medication adherence SRQs were validated using electronic monitoring devices. A majority of them showed high or moderate correlation with medication adherence measured using monitoring devices, and could be considered for measuring patient-reported adherence prospectively.

Functional consequences of HIV-associated neuropsychological impairment

This review focuses on the "real world" implications of infection with HIV/AIDS from a neuropsychological perspective. Relevant literature is reviewed which examines the relationships between HIV-associated neuropsychological impairment and employment, driving, medication adherence, mood, fatigue, and interpersonal functioning. Specifically, the relative contributions of medical, cognitive, psychosocial, and psychiatric issues on whether someone with HIV/AIDS will be able to return to work, adhere to a complicated medication regimen, or safely drive a vehicle will be discussed. Methodological issues that arise in the context of measuring medication adherence or driving capacity are also explored. Finally, the impact of HIV/AIDS on mood state, fatigue, and interpersonal relationships are addressed, with particular emphasis on how these variables interact with cognition and independent functioning. The purpose of this review is to integrate neuropsychological findings with their real world correlates of functional behavior in the HIV/AIDS population.