Abstract:
Objectives: The aims of this study were to describe patients' experiences after single-tablet regimen (STR) desimplification and its impact on self-reported treatment adherence and quality of life.
Methods: We performed a survey among all patients from the multicenter cohort of the Spanish HIV/AIDS Network who had desimplified the STRs dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine (DGT/ABC/3TC) or rilpivirine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine to their separate components (DTG + generic ABC/3TC or RPV + generic TDF/FTC) between December 2016 and November 2018.
Results: Among 216 patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria, 138 (63.9%) completed the questionnaire. Most of the patients (78.3%) knew what generic drugs are, only 8.7% believed that treatment with 2 pills is less effective than treatment with an STR, and 67.4% agreed that it is reasonable to take 2 pills instead of 1 for HIV treatment to decrease costs for the health care system. After desimplification, 13.0% of the patients stated they had more secondary effects, 8.0% had forgotten one or more doses more frequently than before, and 10.9% had sometimes forgotten to take 1 pill, but not the other. A proportion of 30.4% reported not bein...