Addressing Barriers to Anti-hypertensive Medication Adherence Among PLWH Who Have Achieved Viral Suppression

Addressing Barriers to Anti-hypertensive Medication Adherence Among Persons Living With HIV Who Have Achieved Viral Suppression

Among those with hypertension, persons living with HIV (PWH) have a 50% higher risk of incident myocardial infarction compared to the general population, and they often fail to meet evidence-based treatment goals for hypertension. An important contributing factor for insufficient blood pressure control is non-adherence to antihypertensive medications. Research on medication adherence for PWH has largely focused on antiretroviral therapy adherence with limited focus on adherence to other non-AIDS condition medications.

With a large proportion of PWH in the U.S. achieving viral suppression, providers may now have an opportunity to focus on the management of non-AIDS conditions like hypertension. However, because PWH who have achieved suppression have reduced clinic encounters (once or twice a year) there is potential loss of opportunity to effectively monitor and intensify hypertension treatment as needed an important opportunity to focus on preventing cardiovascular disease. CVD and other non-AIDS comorbidities.

The study's overarching goal is to improve the hypertension outcomes for PWH on suppressive ART to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. In this study, we will identify and evaluate healthcare and patient-level factors that must be addressed in an intervention to increase hypertension medication adherence for PWH who have achieved viral suppression. We will use these factors to tailor an intervention and assess the feasibility and acceptability at the Duke ID clinic.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Hypertension; HIV-1-infection
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Hypertension control through education and monitoring

Detailed Description

The study is divided into 5 separate groups, Aim 1A, Aim 1B, Aim 2, Aim 3A and Aim 3B. Aims 1A and 1B will identify and evaluate patient-level factors that must be addressed in an intervention to increase hypertension medication adherence for (persons living with HIV) PWH who have achieved viral suppression. Aim 2 will identify HIV providers' practice norms after their patients achieve viral suppression and explore barriers faced in monitoring and managing patient adherence to antihypertensive medications to inform an intervention aimed at increasing antihypertensive medication adherence. Aim 3A will adapt the health care delivery intervention components to the Duke ID clinic context with key stakeholder input and data from Aims 1 and 2. Aim 3B will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted health care delivery intervention to improve anti-hypertensive medication adherence and BP control in PWH at 24 weeks.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Stuart T Carr, BA; Phone Number: 919 668-4849; Email: stuart.carr@duke.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Mersedes Brown, MPH; Phone Number: 919 668-7364; Email: mersedes.brown@duke.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
      • Duke University
      • Contact: Mersedes Brown, MPH; Phone Number: 919-668-7364; Email: mersedes.brown@duke.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Aims 1A and 1B

• Age ≥18 years
• Confirmed HIV+ diagnosis
• Undetectable HIV viral load: defined as the most recent HIV viral load <200 copies/mL checked within the past year (assessed via chart abstraction)
• Hypertension diagnosis in medical records
• Taking an antihypertensive medication
• Receiving care at the Duke HIV clinic

Aim 2

• HIV providers including infectious disease physicians, internists or advance practice practitioners who have a patient pool of PLWH under their care in the last 6 months.

Aim 3A

• Stakeholders composed of willing participants recruited from the Duke ID clinic and may include, HIV providers, clinic directors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, people living with HIV who have hypertension and take antihypertensive medications, and representatives of the community advisory boards, and any other key stakeholders.

Aim 3 B

• Age ≥18 years
• Confirmed HIV+ diagnosis
• Receiving care at the Duke ID clinic
• Achievement of HIV suppression defined as having HIV-1 RNA <200 copies/ml
• Take antihypertensive medications
• Uncontrolled BP over a 12 months period defined by participants with systolic BP>130mmHg on ≥ 2 occasions in the past 12 months as indicated in the individual patient's electronic medical records

Exclusion Criteria:

Aims 1A, 1B and 3B

• Severely hearing or speech impaired, or other disability that would limit participation in the intervention components
• In a nursing home and/or receiving in-patient psychiatric care
• Terminal illness with life expectancy < 4 months
• No reliable access to a telephone
• Pregnant, breast-feeding, or planning a pregnancy during the study period
• Planning to move out of the area in the next 6 months
• Non-English speaking.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Other: Aim 3B; This aim will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted health care delivery intervention to improve anti-hypertensive medication adherence and blood pressure control in persons living with HIV at 24 weeks.

Behavioral: Hypertension control through education and monitoring; Enrollment of 60 PLWH ≥18 years old receiving care at the Duke ID clinic who have achieved HIV viral suppression who take antihypertensive medication and have uncontrolled blood pressure. Subjects will have be given educational materials, blood pressure monitors to use and report findings, follow up with study coordinator and communication with subject's HIV provider in order to maximize blood pressure control..

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility as measured by enrollment	Number of participants enrolled divided by total number of eligible patients in Duke Clinic 1K	1 year
Acceptability of nurse managed adherence strategy	Intervention Measure (Likert scale 1 completely disagree to 5 completely agree)	Week 24
Usefulness of contact with nurse	Intervention Measure (Likert scale 1 completely disagree to 5 completely agree)	Week 24
Subject's evaluation regarding ease of use of blood pressure machine	Intervention Measure (Likert scale 1 completely disagree to 5 completely agree)	Week 24
Subject's evaluation of ease of the completion of blood pressure logs	Intervention Measure (Likert scale 1 completely disagree to 5 completely agree)	Week 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in subject's self report of anti-hypertensive medication adherence	Adherence to Hypertension and Medication Scales (Likert scale strongly disagree to strongly agree and not at all to very much)	Baseline and Week 24
Change in systolic blood pressure measurements	Comparison of baseline versus Week 24 visit measurements	Baseline and Week 24
Total number of telephone contacts	# of times participant was engaged via phone calls including successful and unsuccessful contacts	Week 24
Duration of time to reduce elevated BP to an under-control reading	time frame it took for participant to self-report a reduced bp reading within a normal range	Week 24
Total number of specialty referrals	# of specialty referrals that the participant experienced during the duration of study enrollment	Week 24
Number of anti-hypertensive medication changes	# of times medication changes (including switch to a different antihypertensive medication or the addition of another anti-hypertensive medication)	Week 24

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Duke University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Charles Muiruri, PhD, Duke University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 20, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 11, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 25, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Hypertension
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00108808

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No