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Cell Phone-Based and Adherence Device Technologies for HIV Care and Treatment in Resource-Limited Settings: Recent Advances

  • HIV and Technology (J Simoni and K Horvath, Section Editors)
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Abstract

Numerous cell phone-based and adherence monitoring technologies have been developed to address barriers to effective HIV prevention, testing, and treatment. Because most people living with HIV and AIDS reside in resource-limited settings (RLS), it is important to understand the development and use of these technologies in RLS. Recent research on cell phone-based technologies has focused on HIV education, linkage to and retention in care, disease tracking, and antiretroviral therapy adherence reminders. Advances in adherence devices have focused on real-time adherence monitors, which have been used for both antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis. Real-time monitoring has recently been combined with cell phone-based technologies to create real-time adherence interventions using short message service (SMS). New developments in adherence technologies are exploring ingestion monitoring and metabolite detection to confirm adherence. This article provides an overview of recent advances in these two families of technologies and includes research on their acceptability and cost-effectiveness when available. It additionally outlines key challenges and needed research as use of these technologies continues to expand and evolve.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Haberer reports grants from NIH, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from World Health Organization, personal fees from FHI 360, personal fees from NIH, outside the submitted work. Mr. Campbell reports grants from NIH, during the conduct of the study.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Funding

This study was supported from NIH grant numbers R21AI108329, R34H100940.

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  1. Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 722, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Jeffrey I. Campbell & Jessica E. Haberer

  2. Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Jeffrey I. Campbell

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  1. Jeffrey I. Campbell
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Correspondence to Jessica E. Haberer.

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Campbell, J.I., Haberer, J.E. Cell Phone-Based and Adherence Device Technologies for HIV Care and Treatment in Resource-Limited Settings: Recent Advances. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep 12, 523–531 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11904-015-0282-8

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