A pilot study of food supplementation to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy among food-insecure adults in Lusaka, Zambia

Background: The provision of food supplementation to foodinsecure patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) may improve adherence to medications. Methods: A home-based adherence support program at 8 government clinics assessed patients for food insecurity. Four clinics provided food supplementation, and 4 acted as controls. The analysis compared adherence (assessed by medication possession ratio), CD4, and weight gain outcomes among food-insecure patients enrolled at the food clinics with those enrolled at the control clinics. Results: Between May 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005, 636 foodinsecure adults were enrolled. Food, supplementation was associated with better adherence to therapy. Two hundred fifty-eight of 366 (70%) patients in the food group achieved a medication possession ratio of 95% or greater versus 79 of 166 (48%) among controls (relative risk = 1.5; 95% confidence interval: 1.2 to 1.8). This finding was unchanged after adjustment for sex, age, baseline CD4 count, baseline World Health Organization stage, and baseline hemoglobin. We did not observe a significant effect of food supplementation on weight gain or CD4 cell response. Conclusions: This analysis suggests that providing food to foodinsecure patients initiating ART is feasible and may improveadherence to medication. A large randomized study of the clinical benefits of food supplementation to ART patients is urgently needed to inform international policy. Copyright © 2008 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.