Overview
Ahna L.H. Pai, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the Center for the Promotion of Adherence and Self Management at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Pai's program of research focuses on adherence to pediatric medical regimens, including the measurement of adherence, examining the relationship between systemic factors and adherence as well as the development of interventions to promote adherence.
Current Studies
Dr. Pai and her team are currently conducting the following studies:
ART Study
The purpose of the ART study is to understand how the allocation of medical regimen tasks among family members influences treatment adherence in pediatric kidney transplant patients. This mixed method study employed two phases. Phase 1 recruited 20 children with renal transplants and their caregivers. They were interviewed about strategies they used to manage their treatment regimen. Findings from the first phase informed the development of a new measure to assess the allocation of treatment responsibility within families. In Phase 2, 40 children with a renal transplant and their caregivers will complete the new measure as well as measures of psychological and family functioning. Recruitment for this study is ongoing. Ultimately, the findings from this study will increase our understanding of how family factors that influence adherence behaviors in pediatric renal transplant population.
Clinic Visit Study
The purpose of the Clinic Visit study is to examine how adherence to scheduled clinic appointments in children and adolescents is related to transplant health outcomes. Chart reviews of children / adolescents who have received a kidney transplant at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center are being conducted to collect information on the relevant variables. This study will increase our understanding of factors that may place patients at risk for poor clinic attendance and whether poor clinic attendance, an objective indicator of adherence, may be related to health outcomes.
HERO Study
The goals of this study are (1) to document rates of nonadherence to the outpatient treatment regimen in the pediatric stem cell transplant (SCT) population and (2) to identify factors associated with nonadherence. Also we wish to explore the relationship of nonadherence to health outcomes (such as hospital utilization, and post-transplant complications). Eighty patients and their caregivers will be recruited to participate in five study visits over a nine-month period of time. At each visit patients and their caregivers will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires to assess factors potentially associated with adherence. Findings from this study will be the first to systematically document rates of adherence to medication regiments in the pediatric SCT population.
AIMS Study
The main objective of this study is to develop and validate the Adherence Integrated Monitoring System (AIMS), a standardized tool to assess adherence in real-time. The AIMS study will integrate clinical information from transplant patients that will automatically calculate an adherence score that will then be delivered to the point of care. The AIMS study will also be assessing the feasibility and acceptability of the AIMS system. The AIMS will be the first tool available to make systematic assessment of adherence feasible in clinical practice.
