<p dir="ltr">Background. Although depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), few clinical trials in people without CVD have examined the effect of depression treatment on CVD-related outcomes. It’s unknown if successful depression treatment improves indicators of CVD risk, such as CVD-relevant health behaviors, traditional CVD risk factors, and CVD events. </p><p dir="ltr">Methods. We examined data from eIMPACT trial, a phase II randomized controlled trial conducted from 2015-2020. Depressive symptoms, CVD-relevant health behaviors (self-reported CVD prevention medication adherence, sedentary behavior, and sleep quality) and traditional CVD risk factors (blood pressure and lipid fractions) were assessed. Incident CVD events over four years were identified using a statewide health information exchange. </p><p dir="ltr">Results. The intervention group exhibited greater improvement in depressive symptoms (p < 0.01) and sleep quality (p < 0.01) than the usual care group, but there was no intervention effect on systolic blood pressure (p = 0.36), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.38), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.79), triglycerides (p = 0.76), CVD prevention medication adherence (p = 0.64), or sedentary behavior (p = 0.57). There was an intervention effect on diastolic blood pressure that favored the usual care group (p = 0.02). CVD-relevant health behaviors did not mediate any intervention effects on traditional CVD risk factors. Twenty-two participants (10%) experienced an incident CVD event. The likelihood of an CVD event did not differ between the intervention group (12.1%) and the usual care group (8.3%; HR = 1.45, 95% CI: 0.62-3.40, p = 0.39). </p><p dir="ltr">Conclusions. Successful depression treatment alone improves self-reported sleep quality but is not sufficient to lower CVD risk of people with depression. Alternative approaches may be needed reduce CVD risk in depression. </p><p dir="ltr">Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02458690 </p><p dir="ltr">Keywords: depression, cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, lipids, medication adherence, sedentary behavior, sleep quality, collaborative care, internet interventions, clinical trial</p>

Objectif principal: Il n’est pas démontré que les interventions visant à maîtriser voire modérer la médicamentation de patients atteints d’hypertension peuvent améliorer leur gestion de la maladie. Cette revue systématique propose d’évaluer les programmes de gestion contrôlée de la médicamentation pour l’hypertension, en s’appuyant sur la mesure de l’observance des traitements par les patients (CMGM). Design: Revue systématique. Sources de données: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, résumés de conférences internationales sur l’hypertension et bibliographies des articles pertinents. Méthodes: Des essais contrôlés randomisés (ECR) et des études observationnelles (EO) ont été évalués par 2 réviseurs indépendants. L’évaluation de la qualité (de ce matériel) a été réalisée avec l’aide de l’outil de Cochrane de mesure du risque de biais, et a été estimée selon une échelle à quatre niveaux de qualité Une synthèse narrative des données a été effectuée en raison de l'hétérogénéité importante des études. Résultats: 13 études (8 ECR, 5 EO) de 2150 patients hypertendus ont été prises en compte. Parmi elles, 5 études de CMGM avec l’utilisation de dispositifs électroniques comme seule intervention ont relevé une diminution de la tension artérielle (TA), qui pourrait cependant être expliquée par les biais de mesure. L’amélioration à court terme de la TA sous CMGM dans les interventions complexes a été révélée dans 4 études à qualité faible ou modérée. Dans 4 autres études sur les soins intégrés de qualité supérieure, il n'a pas été possible de distinguer l'impact de la composante CMGM, celle-ci pouvant être compromise par des traitements médicamenteux. L’ensemble des études semble par ailleurs montrer qu’un feed-back régulier au médecin traitant peut être un élément essentiel d’efficacité des traitements CMGM, et peut être facilement assuré par une infirmière ou un pharmacien, grâce à des outils de communication appropriés. Conclusions: Aucune preuve convaincante de l'efficacité des traitements CMGM comme technologie de la santé n’a été établie en raison de designs non-optimaux des études identifiées et des ualités méthodologiques insatisfaisantes de celles-ci. Les recherches futures devraient : suivre les normes de qualité approuvées et les recommandations cliniques actuelles pour le traitement de l'hypertension, inclure des groupes spécifiques de patients avec des problèmes d’attachement aux traitements, et considérer les résultats cliniques et économiques de l'organisation de soins ainsi que les observations rapportées par les patients. / Objective: Whether interventions including measurement and correction of patients’ attitude to antihypertensive medication can improve hypertension management is unclear. The review aims to determine the effectiveness of patient compliance measurement-guided medication management (CMGM) programs in essential hypertension. Design: Systematic review. Data sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, hypertension meetings abstracts, and bibliographies of identified articles. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies (OS) were assessed by 2 reviewers independently. Quality assessment was performed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool and evaluated in a four-point continuum. A narrative data synthesis was performed due to significant heterogeneity among studies. Results: 13 studies (8 RCT, 5 OS) involving 2150 hypertensives were included. Five trials of CMGM with electronic devices as a sole intervention suggested decrease in blood pressure (BP) but the result may have been due to bias. Short-term BP improvement under CMGM in complex interventions was revealed in 4 studies of low-to-moderate quality. In 4 integrated care studies of higher quality the impact of CMGM component was not possible to distil and may be compromised by medication regimens. Regular feedback to the treating physician seems to be an essential component of CMGM and may be effectively mediated by a nurse or a pharmacist and via telecommunication. Conclusions: No convincing evidence for the effectiveness of CMGM as a health technology was found due to non-optimal study designs and methodological quality. Future research should follow accepted quality standards and current guidelines for the treatment of hypertension, include specific groups of patients with compliance problems and consider clinical, economic, patient-reported and organizational outcomes.

Introdução: A adesão à terapia antirretroviral (TARV) é essencial para o sucesso do tratamento do HIV/aids. Apesar das recomendações fornecidas para a promoção da adesão nos serviços de assistência ambulatorial ao HIV/aids do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), não há medidas padronizadas para o monitoramento da adesão nos serviços e há pouca informação disponível sobre as atividades de adesão efetivamente realizadas. Este estudo teve como objetivos: descrever medidas nacionais de adesão à TARV e atividades de adesão conduzidas nos serviços de HIV/aids do SUS; investigar relações entre adesão e características dos serviços. Métodos: Entre 2009 e 2011, conduziu-se um estudo transversal da adesão à TARV em amostra nacional de pacientes em tratamento em serviços do SUS. Foram sorteados para participar do estudo: 1) serviços de diferentes níveis de qualidade (segundo avaliação nacional prévia da organização da assistência ao HIV/aids), localizados nas diferentes regiões do país; 2) pacientes sob TARV em acompanhamento nos serviços selecionados, maiores de 18 anos, não gestantes. Para medir a adesão à TARV, utilizou-se o Questionário WebAd-Q, instrumento de autorrelato em linguagem \"Web\", previamente validado, que aborda três dimensões da adesão: medicamentos, dose (número de comprimidos) e horários de tomada. As respostas foram ponderadas de acordo com a probabilidade de seleção amostral dos pacientes. Características dos serviços foram obtidas com base em dois instrumentos autorrespondidos pelos gerentes e equipes de saúde: 1) o Questionário Qualiaids, voltado para a avaliação geral da qualidade organizacional da assistência ao HIV/aids; 2) o Questionário de Atividades de Adesão, que enfoca aspectos especificamente voltados para a promoção da adesão. Outras características dos serviços analisadas foram: região geográfica, porte do serviço (número de pacientes em TARV) e porte do município (número de habitantes). O desempenho dos serviços em relação às atividades de adesão realizadas foi avaliado segundo cinco domínios: monitoramento; investigação da adesão; cuidado multidisciplinar; atividades de grupo e para populações específicas; capacitação e atualização dos profissionais. Associações entre medidas de adesão e características dos serviços foram testadas em modelos de regressão logística (IC 95%, p < 0,05). Associações entre atividades de adesão e demais características dos serviços também foram investigadas. Resultados: De um total de 2.424 participantes, acompanhados em 55 serviços, 61,1% (IC 95% 58,5-63,7) reportaram não adesão a uma ou mais das dimensões analisadas. A dimensão com maior proporção de não adesão foi o horário (50,9%). Os serviços apresentaram desempenho geral mediano em relação às atividades de adesão. Serviços de boa qualidade organizacional e de pequeno porte associaram-se ao melhor desempenho e/ou à realização de atividades específicas. Ao contrário do esperado, houve predomínio de associações inversas da adesão com a qualidade, a complexidade assistencial (segundo o porte) e a realização de atividades de adesão. Discussão: O estudo indicou a necessidade de ações para aprimorar o trabalho em adesão realizado nos serviços, incluindo: promoção da adesão ao horário; priorização de pessoas com dificuldades de adesão e de populações que requerem intervenções específicas; padronização do monitoramento; maior investimento no gerenciamento técnico, no enfoque multidisciplinar, em atividades específicas de apoio à adesão, e em parcerias com a sociedade civil organizada. A exploração de novos modelos de análise em futuros estudos deverá contribuir para a melhor compreensão das relações entre adesão e características dos serviços / Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial for HIV/AIDS treatment success. In spite of recommendations provided for adherence promotion in HIV outpatient care facilities of the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), there are no standard measures for adherence monitoring in the facilities and there is little information available about adherence strategies actually implemented. This study aimed at: describing national ART adherence measures and adherence strategies conducted in public HIV care facilities; investigating relationships between adherence and care site characteristics. Methods: Between 2009 and 2011, a cross-sectional study of ART adherence was conducted with a national sample of patients treated in public health care facilities. Randomly selected study participants were: 1) care sites of different quality levels (according to a previous national evaluation of HIV care organization), located in different country regions; 2) patients receiving ART at selected sites, 18 years or older, non-pregnant. Adherence measurement was based on the WebAd-Q Questionnaire, a pre-validated web-based self-report tool that approaches three adherence dimensions: drugs, dose (number of pills) and time schedule. Answers were weighted according to patients\' probability of selection. Site characteristics were obtained based on two self-report tools answered by managers and health care teams: 1) the Qualiaids Questionnaire, which evaluates HIV care overall organizational quality; 2) the Adherence Strategies Questionnaire, which focuses on aspects specifically related to adherence promotion. Other site characteristics analyzed were: geographic region, site size (number of patients receiving ART) and municipality size (number of inhabitants). Care site performance in relation to adherence strategies was evaluated based on five domains: monitoring; adherence investigation; multidisciplinary care; group activities and strategies for special populations; professionals\' training and update. Associations between adherence measures and site characteristics were tested in logistic regression models (CI 95%, p < 0.05). Associations between adherence strategies and other site characteristics were also investigated. Results: From a total of 2,424 participants, who were receiving care at 55 facilities, 61.1% (CI 95% 58.5-63.7) reported non-adherence to one or more of the dimensions analyzed. The dimension with the largest non-adherence proportion was timing (50.9%). Overall, the facilities presented a medium performance on adherence strategies. Good organizational quality and small size were associated with better site performance and/or with conduction of specific strategies. Contrary to expectations, inverse associations of adherence with quality, care complexity (according to size) and implementation of adherence strategies were predominant. Discussion: This study indicated actions required to improve adherence work developed in the facilities, including: timing adherence promotion; prioritization of people facing adherence difficulties and populations requiring specific interventions; monitoring standardization; more efforts focusing on technical management, multidisciplinary approach, specific strategies to support adherence, and partnerships with organized civil society. The development of new analysis models in future studies should contribute to improve understanding of the relationships between adherence and care site characteristics

Objectif principal: Il n’est pas démontré que les interventions visant à maîtriser voire modérer la médicamentation de patients atteints d’hypertension peuvent améliorer leur gestion de la maladie. Cette revue systématique propose d’évaluer les programmes de gestion contrôlée de la médicamentation pour l’hypertension, en s’appuyant sur la mesure de l’observance des traitements par les patients (CMGM). Design: Revue systématique. Sources de données: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, résumés de conférences internationales sur l’hypertension et bibliographies des articles pertinents. Méthodes: Des essais contrôlés randomisés (ECR) et des études observationnelles (EO) ont été évalués par 2 réviseurs indépendants. L’évaluation de la qualité (de ce matériel) a été réalisée avec l’aide de l’outil de Cochrane de mesure du risque de biais, et a été estimée selon une échelle à quatre niveaux de qualité Une synthèse narrative des données a été effectuée en raison de l'hétérogénéité importante des études. Résultats: 13 études (8 ECR, 5 EO) de 2150 patients hypertendus ont été prises en compte. Parmi elles, 5 études de CMGM avec l’utilisation de dispositifs électroniques comme seule intervention ont relevé une diminution de la tension artérielle (TA), qui pourrait cependant être expliquée par les biais de mesure. L’amélioration à court terme de la TA sous CMGM dans les interventions complexes a été révélée dans 4 études à qualité faible ou modérée. Dans 4 autres études sur les soins intégrés de qualité supérieure, il n'a pas été possible de distinguer l'impact de la composante CMGM, celle-ci pouvant être compromise par des traitements médicamenteux. L’ensemble des études semble par ailleurs montrer qu’un feed-back régulier au médecin traitant peut être un élément essentiel d’efficacité des traitements CMGM, et peut être facilement assuré par une infirmière ou un pharmacien, grâce à des outils de communication appropriés. Conclusions: Aucune preuve convaincante de l'efficacité des traitements CMGM comme technologie de la santé n’a été établie en raison de designs non-optimaux des études identifiées et des ualités méthodologiques insatisfaisantes de celles-ci. Les recherches futures devraient : suivre les normes de qualité approuvées et les recommandations cliniques actuelles pour le traitement de l'hypertension, inclure des groupes spécifiques de patients avec des problèmes d’attachement aux traitements, et considérer les résultats cliniques et économiques de l'organisation de soins ainsi que les observations rapportées par les patients. / Objective: Whether interventions including measurement and correction of patients’ attitude to antihypertensive medication can improve hypertension management is unclear. The review aims to determine the effectiveness of patient compliance measurement-guided medication management (CMGM) programs in essential hypertension. Design: Systematic review. Data sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, hypertension meetings abstracts, and bibliographies of identified articles. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies (OS) were assessed by 2 reviewers independently. Quality assessment was performed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool and evaluated in a four-point continuum. A narrative data synthesis was performed due to significant heterogeneity among studies. Results: 13 studies (8 RCT, 5 OS) involving 2150 hypertensives were included. Five trials of CMGM with electronic devices as a sole intervention suggested decrease in blood pressure (BP) but the result may have been due to bias. Short-term BP improvement under CMGM in complex interventions was revealed in 4 studies of low-to-moderate quality. In 4 integrated care studies of higher quality the impact of CMGM component was not possible to distil and may be compromised by medication regimens. Regular feedback to the treating physician seems to be an essential component of CMGM and may be effectively mediated by a nurse or a pharmacist and via telecommunication. Conclusions: No convincing evidence for the effectiveness of CMGM as a health technology was found due to non-optimal study designs and methodological quality. Future research should follow accepted quality standards and current guidelines for the treatment of hypertension, include specific groups of patients with compliance problems and consider clinical, economic, patient-reported and organizational outcomes.

Introdução: A adesão à terapia antirretroviral (TARV) é essencial para o sucesso do tratamento do HIV/aids. Apesar das recomendações fornecidas para a promoção da adesão nos serviços de assistência ambulatorial ao HIV/aids do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), não há medidas padronizadas para o monitoramento da adesão nos serviços e há pouca informação disponível sobre as atividades de adesão efetivamente realizadas. Este estudo teve como objetivos: descrever medidas nacionais de adesão à TARV e atividades de adesão conduzidas nos serviços de HIV/aids do SUS; investigar relações entre adesão e características dos serviços. Métodos: Entre 2009 e 2011, conduziu-se um estudo transversal da adesão à TARV em amostra nacional de pacientes em tratamento em serviços do SUS. Foram sorteados para participar do estudo: 1) serviços de diferentes níveis de qualidade (segundo avaliação nacional prévia da organização da assistência ao HIV/aids), localizados nas diferentes regiões do país; 2) pacientes sob TARV em acompanhamento nos serviços selecionados, maiores de 18 anos, não gestantes. Para medir a adesão à TARV, utilizou-se o Questionário WebAd-Q, instrumento de autorrelato em linguagem \"Web\", previamente validado, que aborda três dimensões da adesão: medicamentos, dose (número de comprimidos) e horários de tomada. As respostas foram ponderadas de acordo com a probabilidade de seleção amostral dos pacientes. Características dos serviços foram obtidas com base em dois instrumentos autorrespondidos pelos gerentes e equipes de saúde: 1) o Questionário Qualiaids, voltado para a avaliação geral da qualidade organizacional da assistência ao HIV/aids; 2) o Questionário de Atividades de Adesão, que enfoca aspectos especificamente voltados para a promoção da adesão. Outras características dos serviços analisadas foram: região geográfica, porte do serviço (número de pacientes em TARV) e porte do município (número de habitantes). O desempenho dos serviços em relação às atividades de adesão realizadas foi avaliado segundo cinco domínios: monitoramento; investigação da adesão; cuidado multidisciplinar; atividades de grupo e para populações específicas; capacitação e atualização dos profissionais. Associações entre medidas de adesão e características dos serviços foram testadas em modelos de regressão logística (IC 95%, p < 0,05). Associações entre atividades de adesão e demais características dos serviços também foram investigadas. Resultados: De um total de 2.424 participantes, acompanhados em 55 serviços, 61,1% (IC 95% 58,5-63,7) reportaram não adesão a uma ou mais das dimensões analisadas. A dimensão com maior proporção de não adesão foi o horário (50,9%). Os serviços apresentaram desempenho geral mediano em relação às atividades de adesão. Serviços de boa qualidade organizacional e de pequeno porte associaram-se ao melhor desempenho e/ou à realização de atividades específicas. Ao contrário do esperado, houve predomínio de associações inversas da adesão com a qualidade, a complexidade assistencial (segundo o porte) e a realização de atividades de adesão. Discussão: O estudo indicou a necessidade de ações para aprimorar o trabalho em adesão realizado nos serviços, incluindo: promoção da adesão ao horário; priorização de pessoas com dificuldades de adesão e de populações que requerem intervenções específicas; padronização do monitoramento; maior investimento no gerenciamento técnico, no enfoque multidisciplinar, em atividades específicas de apoio à adesão, e em parcerias com a sociedade civil organizada. A exploração de novos modelos de análise em futuros estudos deverá contribuir para a melhor compreensão das relações entre adesão e características dos serviços / Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial for HIV/AIDS treatment success. In spite of recommendations provided for adherence promotion in HIV outpatient care facilities of the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), there are no standard measures for adherence monitoring in the facilities and there is little information available about adherence strategies actually implemented. This study aimed at: describing national ART adherence measures and adherence strategies conducted in public HIV care facilities; investigating relationships between adherence and care site characteristics. Methods: Between 2009 and 2011, a cross-sectional study of ART adherence was conducted with a national sample of patients treated in public health care facilities. Randomly selected study participants were: 1) care sites of different quality levels (according to a previous national evaluation of HIV care organization), located in different country regions; 2) patients receiving ART at selected sites, 18 years or older, non-pregnant. Adherence measurement was based on the WebAd-Q Questionnaire, a pre-validated web-based self-report tool that approaches three adherence dimensions: drugs, dose (number of pills) and time schedule. Answers were weighted according to patients\' probability of selection. Site characteristics were obtained based on two self-report tools answered by managers and health care teams: 1) the Qualiaids Questionnaire, which evaluates HIV care overall organizational quality; 2) the Adherence Strategies Questionnaire, which focuses on aspects specifically related to adherence promotion. Other site characteristics analyzed were: geographic region, site size (number of patients receiving ART) and municipality size (number of inhabitants). Care site performance in relation to adherence strategies was evaluated based on five domains: monitoring; adherence investigation; multidisciplinary care; group activities and strategies for special populations; professionals\' training and update. Associations between adherence measures and site characteristics were tested in logistic regression models (CI 95%, p < 0.05). Associations between adherence strategies and other site characteristics were also investigated. Results: From a total of 2,424 participants, who were receiving care at 55 facilities, 61.1% (CI 95% 58.5-63.7) reported non-adherence to one or more of the dimensions analyzed. The dimension with the largest non-adherence proportion was timing (50.9%). Overall, the facilities presented a medium performance on adherence strategies. Good organizational quality and small size were associated with better site performance and/or with conduction of specific strategies. Contrary to expectations, inverse associations of adherence with quality, care complexity (according to size) and implementation of adherence strategies were predominant. Discussion: This study indicated actions required to improve adherence work developed in the facilities, including: timing adherence promotion; prioritization of people facing adherence difficulties and populations requiring specific interventions; monitoring standardization; more efforts focusing on technical management, multidisciplinary approach, specific strategies to support adherence, and partnerships with organized civil society. The development of new analysis models in future studies should contribute to improve understanding of the relationships between adherence and care site characteristics

A osteomielite possui elevada prevalência e morbidade. O tratamento depende de apropriada terapia antimicrobiana por tempo prolongado e frequentemente requer cirurgia para remoção de tecidos necróticos. A aderência dos pacientes com osteomielite à prescrição do antibiótico, embora fundamental para o sucesso terapêutico, tem sido pouco estudada. O objetivo deste estudo foi mensurar a aderência à terapia antimicrobiana oral em pacientes adultos com osteomielite; identificar se alguns fatores relacionados na literatura estavam associados com a não aderência; estabelecer o valor preditivo dos fatores associados a não aderência ao tratamento em pacientes com osteomielite. Foi realizado um estudo transversal, fundamentado na avaliação por meio de métodos indiretos da aderência para 83 pacientes. Foram considerados pelo menos 30 dias de uso do antimicrobiano à entrevista e os pacientes foram classificados como aderentes de acordo com o questionário de Morisky, que é constituído por 4 questões com respostas dicotômicas para avaliar a aderência. Os pacientes com < 2 pontos foram considerados de baixa aderência e os que obtiverem > 3 pontos, de alta aderência. O presente estudo identificou uma prevalência de alta aderência de 83,1% (n=63). O ajuste dos modelos de regressão logística múltipla não resultou em variáveis conjuntas influenciando a aderência ao tratamento, porém pacientes do gênero masculino sugeriram apresentar maior frequência de baixa aderência ao tratamento em relação aos pacientes do gênero feminino (p = 0,053). Com relação à idade, a análise dos dados mostrou que os pacientes com idade entre 31 e 59 anos possuíam probabilidade de baixa aderência 68% menor que pacientes com idade entre 18 e 30 anos. A aderência observada foi semelhante à encontrada na literatura. Os fatores sociodemográficos podem interferir na aderência de pacientes em uso de antibióticos orais para tratamento de osteomielite / Osteomyelitis is a highly prevalent disease and a major cause of morbidity. Clinical treatment is based on appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Adherence of patients with osteomyelitis to the prescribed treatment, although critical for successful treatment, has been little studied. The aim of the study was: to measure the adherence to oral antimicrobial therapy in adult patients with osteomyelitis; to identify whether some of the factors listed in health literature were associated with non-adherence; to establish the predictive values associated with non-adherence to antimicrobial therapy in patients with osteomyelitis. We conducted a cross-sectional study, based on evaluation through indirect methods of adherence for 83 patients. We included patients receiving at least 30 days of antimicrobial use. Patients were interviewed and classified as adherent according to the Morisky questionnaire, that consists of 4 questions with dichotomous responses to assess adherence. Patients with 3 points, with high adherence. This study identified a prevalence of high adherence of 83.1% (n = 63). The multivariate logistic regression analysis did not result in multiple variables influencing adherence to treatment. Gender was the only variable with an suggested association with low adherence, male gender was more associated with low adherence than female (p = 0,053). Regarding age, data analysis showed that patients aged between 31 and 59 years had low adherence probability 68% lower than patients aged between 18 and 30 years. The high adherence observed in this study was similar than previous reported in the literature. Social and demographic factors may interfere in the adherence with patients using oral antibiotics for the treatment of osteomyelitis

Many older adults desire to maintain their quality of life by living and aging independently in their own homes. However, it is difficult for older adults to notice and track the subtle changes in their own abilities because these abilities can change gradually over a long period of time. Technology in the form of ubiquitous sensors embedded in objects in the home can play a role in keeping track of the functional abilities of individuals unobtrusively, objectively, and continuously over a long period of time. This work introduces a sensing technique called “task-based embedded assessment” that monitors how well specific tasks important for independence are carried out using everyday objects found in the home with which individuals regularly interact. Following formative studies on the information needs of older adults and their caregivers, a sensing system called “dwellSense” that can monitor, assess, and provide feedback about how well individuals complete tasks, such as taking medications, using the phone, and making coffee, was designed, built, and evaluated. Multiple longterm (over 10 months) field deployments of dwellSense were used to investigate how the data collected from the system could support greater self-awareness of abilities and intentions to improve in task performance. Presenting and reflecting on data from ubiquitous sensing systems such as dwellSense is challenging because it is both highly dimensional as well as large in volume, particularly if it is collected over a long period of time. Thus, this work also investigates the time dimension of reflection and has identified that real-time feedback is particularly useful for supporting behavior change, and longer-term trended feedback is useful for greater awareness of abilities. Traditional forms of assessing the functional abilities of individuals tend to be either biased, lacking ecological validity, infrequent, or expensive to conduct. An automated sensor-based approach for assessment is compared to traditional performance testing by a trained clinician and found to match well with clinician-generated ratings that are objective, frequent, and ecologically valid. The contributions from this thesis not only advance the state of the art for maintaining quality of life and care for older adults, but also provide the foundations for designing personal sensing systems that aim to assess an individual’s abilities and support behaviors through the feedback of objective, timely sensed information.

A osteomielite possui elevada prevalência e morbidade. O tratamento depende de apropriada terapia antimicrobiana por tempo prolongado e frequentemente requer cirurgia para remoção de tecidos necróticos. A aderência dos pacientes com osteomielite à prescrição do antibiótico, embora fundamental para o sucesso terapêutico, tem sido pouco estudada. O objetivo deste estudo foi mensurar a aderência à terapia antimicrobiana oral em pacientes adultos com osteomielite; identificar se alguns fatores relacionados na literatura estavam associados com a não aderência; estabelecer o valor preditivo dos fatores associados a não aderência ao tratamento em pacientes com osteomielite. Foi realizado um estudo transversal, fundamentado na avaliação por meio de métodos indiretos da aderência para 83 pacientes. Foram considerados pelo menos 30 dias de uso do antimicrobiano à entrevista e os pacientes foram classificados como aderentes de acordo com o questionário de Morisky, que é constituído por 4 questões com respostas dicotômicas para avaliar a aderência. Os pacientes com < 2 pontos foram considerados de baixa aderência e os que obtiverem > 3 pontos, de alta aderência. O presente estudo identificou uma prevalência de alta aderência de 83,1% (n=63). O ajuste dos modelos de regressão logística múltipla não resultou em variáveis conjuntas influenciando a aderência ao tratamento, porém pacientes do gênero masculino sugeriram apresentar maior frequência de baixa aderência ao tratamento em relação aos pacientes do gênero feminino (p = 0,053). Com relação à idade, a análise dos dados mostrou que os pacientes com idade entre 31 e 59 anos possuíam probabilidade de baixa aderência 68% menor que pacientes com idade entre 18 e 30 anos. A aderência observada foi semelhante à encontrada na literatura. Os fatores sociodemográficos podem interferir na aderência de pacientes em uso de antibióticos orais para tratamento de osteomielite / Osteomyelitis is a highly prevalent disease and a major cause of morbidity. Clinical treatment is based on appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Adherence of patients with osteomyelitis to the prescribed treatment, although critical for successful treatment, has been little studied. The aim of the study was: to measure the adherence to oral antimicrobial therapy in adult patients with osteomyelitis; to identify whether some of the factors listed in health literature were associated with non-adherence; to establish the predictive values associated with non-adherence to antimicrobial therapy in patients with osteomyelitis. We conducted a cross-sectional study, based on evaluation through indirect methods of adherence for 83 patients. We included patients receiving at least 30 days of antimicrobial use. Patients were interviewed and classified as adherent according to the Morisky questionnaire, that consists of 4 questions with dichotomous responses to assess adherence. Patients with 3 points, with high adherence. This study identified a prevalence of high adherence of 83.1% (n = 63). The multivariate logistic regression analysis did not result in multiple variables influencing adherence to treatment. Gender was the only variable with an suggested association with low adherence, male gender was more associated with low adherence than female (p = 0,053). Regarding age, data analysis showed that patients aged between 31 and 59 years had low adherence probability 68% lower than patients aged between 18 and 30 years. The high adherence observed in this study was similar than previous reported in the literature. Social and demographic factors may interfere in the adherence with patients using oral antibiotics for the treatment of osteomyelitis