Self-reported alcohol abstinence associated with ART initiation among HIV-infected persons in rural Uganda
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Date
2014Author
Santos, Glenn-Milo
Emenyonu, Nneka I.
Bajunirwe, Francis
Mocello, A. Rain
Martin, Jeffrey N.
Vittinghoff, Eric
Bangsberg, David R.
Hahn, Judith A.
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BACKGROUND—There is limited data on the impact of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) initiation on alcohol consumption. We characterized predictors of abstaining from alcohol among
HIV-infected individuals following ART initiation.
METHODS—We analyzed data from a prospective cohort of HIV-infected adults in Mbarara, Uganda with quarterly measures of self-reported alcohol consumption, socio-demographics, health
status, and blood draws. We used pooled logistic regression to evaluate predictors of becoming
abstinent from alcohol for at least 90 days after baseline.
RESULTS—Among the 502 participants, 108 (21.5%) were current drinkers who consumed alcohol within 90 days of baseline, 206 (41.0%) were former drinkers, and 188 (37.5%) were
lifetime abstainers at baseline. Among current drinkers, 67 (62.0%) drank at hazardous levels. 90
of current drinkers (83.3%) abstained from alcohol at least for 90 days over 3.6 median years of
follow-up [IQR 2-4.8]; of those 69 (76.7%) remained abstinent for a median duration of follow-up
of 3.25 years [1.6-4.5]. Becoming abstinent was independently associated with lower baseline
AUDIT score (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.95[95%CI 0.91-0.99]), baseline physical health score
(AOR 0.92[0.87-0.97]), and decreases in physical health score at follow-up visits (AOR
0.92[0.88-0.97)). Alcohol abstinence was most likely to start immediately after ART initiation
(AORs for 6 month versus 3 month visit: 0.25[0.10-0.61]; 9 month visit or later versus 3 month
visit: 0.04[0.02-0.09]).
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