Dr Ian Frank on the Convenience, Benefits of Single-Tablet Regimens for HIV

People living with HIV who are taking single-tablet regimens have better medication adherence and lower hospitalizations than those taking multi-tablet regimens, explained Ian Frank, MD, professor of medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania,

Transcript

How have once-a-day single-tablet regimens impacted patient outcomes compared with multi-tablet regimens?

I’m a believer in simplicity, and I love single-tablet regimens, and I love them for several reasons. If people are only on their HIV medication, taking 1 pill a day is the easiest and simplest kind of regimen that we can offer an individual. But also, by putting all the medications in 1 pill, we can’t have a mix up by the pharmacy. Pharmacies can’t prescribe some of the regimens in a combination but not others because they’re not available in stock. We can’t have individuals adhering to some of the medications but not all of the medications in a regimen. We can’t have confusions on the part of the patient in terms of remembering to take medications or forgetting to take other medications.

So, with the goal of trying to promote adherence, single-tablet regimens have been, in my opinion, a major advance. And, there are studies that show that individuals who are on single-tablet regimens, they have better adherence and less hospitalization than individuals who are on a multiple-tablet regimen that contain the exact same components as in the single-tablet regimen.