VDOT for Monitoring Adherence to LTBI Treatment

Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT) is a novel means of remotely observing patients ingesting medications using videos sent from a smartphone. VDOT was developed and found to be feasible and acceptable for monitoring daily treatment of active TB in San Diego, CA and Tijuana, B.C., Mexico (R21-AI088326; PI: R. Garfein). Patients are taught how to use the VDOT recording app, record medication ingestion, and contact their physician when side effects occur. Participants are trained at the time of their first LTBI treatment dose to ensure participants know how to record videos. All remaining 11 weekly doses are taken and recorded wherever the participant chooses. Clinic staff monitor videos as they arrive using a password protected website and document each medication dose that is taken.

Clinic-based, in-person DOT is the standard of care for monitoring adherence for patients taking the 12-dose isoniazid/rifapentine treatment for LTBI. Participants visit the clinic once weekly until all 12 doses are taken or 16 weeks pass, whichever comes first.