Persistence of Virological Benefits Following Directly Administered Antiretroviral Therapy Among Drug Users: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND:Although directly administered antiretroviral therapy (DAART) has demonstrated impressive biological benefits compared with self-administered therapy (SAT) among drug users, the persistence of DAART after transition to SAT has not been examined. METHODS:We conducted a community-based, prospective, randomized controlled trial of 6 months of DAART compared with SAT. The primary outcome was the proportion of subjects who achieved virological success at 6 months postintervention, defined as either a 1.0 log10 reduction from baseline or HIV-1 RNA