Patients Do Better with Fewer Pills.

• Position: Aids research findings - Brief Article

Based on an analysis of more than 3,000 patients involved in triple-drug combination trials to treat HIV infection, researchers at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., say that patients who take fewer pills tend to do better than those who have more complex medication regimens. They speculate the reason is that patients who take fewer pills are more likely to adhere to their medication regimen--and therefore receive the greatest benefits of the therapy--than those on complex regimens, who may find it more difficult to take multiple pills at different times during the day. The simplest of the regimens called for patients to take as few as four pills a day, while the more complex regimens involved 16 pills taken at different times--some with food, others on an empty stomach.

The researchers initially set out to perform an analysis of the effects of triple-drug combinations, examining the results of 22 different trials involving a total of 3,115 patients who were being treated for the first time with anti-retroviral agents. These drugs interfere with the genetic machinery within the virus that allows it to make copies of itself. The trials looked at the use of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) in combination with one of the following class of agents: a protease inhibitor, a non-NRTI, or another NRTI. Thirteen drugs were represented in the trials--10 that have received FDA approval and three in Phase II...