Daily Alcohol Use as an Independent Risk Factor for HIV Seroconversion among People Who Inject Drugs
AIMS:
To
estimate the relationship between daily alcohol use and HIV seroconversion
among people who inject drugs (PWID) in a Canadian setting.
DESIGN AND SETTING:
Data
from an open prospective cohort study of PWID in Vancouver, Canada, recruited
via snowball sampling and street outreach between May 1996 and November 2013.
An interviewer-administered questionnaire including standardized behavioural
assessment, and HIV antibody testing were conducted semiannually. Baseline
HIV-seronegative participants completing ≥1 follow-up visits were eligible for
the present analysis.
PARTICIPANTS:
1683
eligible participants, including 564 (33.5%) women, were followed for a median
of 79.8 (interquartile range [IQR]: 33.3 - 119.1) months.
MEASUREMENTS:
The
primary endpoint was time to HIV seroconversion, with the date of HIV
seroconversion estimated as the midpoint between the last negative and the
first positive antibody test results. The primary explanatory variable was
self-reported daily alcohol use in the previous 6 months assessed semiannually.
Other covariates considered included demographic, behavioural,
social/structural, and environmental risk factors for HIV infection among PWID
(e.g. daily cocaine injection, methadone use, etc.).
FINDINGS:
Of 1683
PWID, there were 176 HIV seroconversions during follow-up with an incidence
density of 1.5 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3 - 1.7) cases per 100
person-years. At baseline, 339 (20.1%) consumed alcohol at least daily in the
previous six months. In multivariable extended Cox regression analyses, daily
alcohol use remained independently associated with HIV seroconversion (Adjusted
Hazard Ratio: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.00-2.17).
CONCLUSIONS:
Daily
alcohol use appears to be an independent risk factor for HIV seroconversion
among our cohort of PWID . This article is protected by copyright. All rights
reserved.
- 1Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- 2British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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