Highlights
- Over half of HIV-infected FSW reported hazardous, harmful, or dependent alcohol use
- Increased alcohol use was associated with lack of HIV infection awareness
- Marijuana use was uncommon among HIV-infected FSW
Abstract
Background
HIV
diagnosis, the first step in HIV care and treatment engagement, may be
inhibited by substance use among female sex workers (FSW). We assessed the
relationship between alcohol and marijuana use and lack of HIV infection
awareness among HIV-infected FSW in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Methods
From
July to September, 2014, 200 FSW aged ≥18 years were enrolled using venue-based
sampling to examine substance use, HIV testing history, and serostatus
ascertained by HIV rapid test. We used Poisson regression with robust variance
estimates to estimate the associations of alcohol and marijuana use and lack of
HIV infection awareness.
Results
Of
the 138 HIV-infected FSW, 20% were unaware of their HIV infection, with 70% not
testing within 6 months prior. According to the Alcohol Use Disorder
Identification Tests (AUDIT), 55% of FSW unaware of their HIV infection
reported hazardous, harmful, or dependent alcohol consumption. We observed a
dose-response relationship between alcohol use and lack of HIV infection
awareness, with alcohol dependency significantly associated with lack of HIV
infection awareness (adjusted prevalence ratio: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3, 6.8). Current
marijuana use was uncommon (26%) among unaware HIV-infected FSW and weakly
associated with lack of HIV infection awareness adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.1,
95% CI: 0.5, 2.5).
Conclusion
Increased
levels of alcohol use is associated with lack of HIV infection awareness among
HIV-infected FSW in Malawi. Frequent, consistent HIV testing integrated with
alcohol reduction strategies could improve the health and infection awareness
of substance-using FSW.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/UpR196
By: Kathryn E. Lancaster, Vivian
F. Go, Thandie Lungu, Pearson Mmodzi, Mina
C. Hosseinipour, Katy
Chadwick, Kimberly A. Powers,
Brian W. Pence, Irving
F. Hoffman, William C. Miller
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public
Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, United States of America
Correspondence
Corresponding author. University of North Carolina Institute
of Global Health and Infectious Diseases 130 Mason Farm Rd Chapel Hill, NC
27599 USA. Tel.: +919 966 2536; fax: +919 966 6714.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
No comments:
Post a Comment