When an organization is racing to be the first to develop a product, adherence to safety standards can grow lax.
Ensuring high product adherence is another important challenge in the successful conduct of HIV prevention studies.
At each quarterly follow-up visit, we conducted HIV and STI counseling and testing, treatment of curable STIs (as applicable), product adherence and risk reduction counseling and pregnancy testing.
In the Carraguard vaginal gel efficacy trial, product adherence was assessed through self-reports, counting returned applicators and a staining test that was meant to show which applicators had been vaginally inserted [7], [8], [9].
Coital and/or product adherence diaries provide one relatively low-tech approach to measuring adherence.
Alternatively, open-label PrEP adherence may actually exceed study product adherence.
Some considerations argue for lower rates of open-label PrEP adherence relative to study product adherence.
Much of the existing literature uses the term "PrEP adherence" when discussing study product adherence.
Risk perception may importantly contribute to study product adherence in PrEP RCTs.
No single product adherence strategy can be applied to all HIV prevention trials or product introduction campaigns.
