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New HIV Monitoring Service
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22/9/2000
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Details of the drug regimes used to treat over 3,000 HIV patients across
five key European markets, plus the specialists’ reasons for choosing those
regimes, form the basis of a new continuous survey launched by TNS
Healthcare this month.
HIV Monitor is expected to be of great significance. The latest figures from
the World Health Organisation on current estimated numbers of HIV infected
adult patients in the five key countries covered by the survey are:
- France - 130,000
- Germany - 37,000
- Italy - 95,000
- Spain - 120,000
- UK - 30,000
Fieldwork starts in mid September in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and
Germany. A panel of 40 specialists per country - targeting key regional HIV
specialists -will be selected to take part.
The study will be conducted monthly among a proportion of this total base,
and will provide quarterly information for clients. According to TNS
Healthcare Associate Director, Sara Hancock, "The specialists will be asked
to provide details about, for example, the diagnosis, transmission and
therapies prescribed amongst a range of the HIV patients they see. Once a
year they will also be asked to fill in an attitudinal questionnaire, which
will reveal not only the drug regimes they use, but also what is driving
their choice."
“This new service will allow our clients to monitor a combination of newly
diagnosed HIV patients, along with existing patients, on both changing and
static therapy. It will provide vital information on doctor behaviour and
attitudes as well as full patient profiles, including details of routes of
infection. All this data will, at the same time, allow key cross-country
comparisons.
"The quarterly frequency, combined with detailed attitudinal data, will
provide very good coverage of all issues surrounding therapy dynamics. This
information will be enhanced due to the way in which we will specify the
patients for inclusion in the study," Ms Hancock concluded.
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