Abstract
HIV-infected women with excessive alcohol consumption are at risk for adverse health outcomes, but little is known about their
long-term drinking trajectories. This analysis included longitudinal data, obtained from 1996 to 2006, from 2,791 women with
HIV from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. Among these women, the proportion in each of five distinct drinking trajectories
was: continued heavy drinking (3 %), reduction from heavy to non-heavy drinking (4 %), increase from non-heavy to heavy drinking
(8 %), continued non-heavy drinking (36 %), and continued non-drinking (49 %). Depressive symptoms, other substance use (crack/cocaine,
marijuana, and tobacco), co-infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and heavy drinking prior to enrollment were associated
with trajectories involving future heavy drinking. In conclusion, many women with HIV change their drinking patterns over
time. Clinicians and those providing alcohol-related interventions might target those with depression, current use of tobacco
or illicit drugs, HCV infection, or a previous history of drinking problems.
long-term drinking trajectories. This analysis included longitudinal data, obtained from 1996 to 2006, from 2,791 women with
HIV from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. Among these women, the proportion in each of five distinct drinking trajectories
was: continued heavy drinking (3 %), reduction from heavy to non-heavy drinking (4 %), increase from non-heavy to heavy drinking
(8 %), continued non-heavy drinking (36 %), and continued non-drinking (49 %). Depressive symptoms, other substance use (crack/cocaine,
marijuana, and tobacco), co-infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and heavy drinking prior to enrollment were associated
with trajectories involving future heavy drinking. In conclusion, many women with HIV change their drinking patterns over
time. Clinicians and those providing alcohol-related interventions might target those with depression, current use of tobacco
or illicit drugs, HCV infection, or a previous history of drinking problems.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-8
- DOI 10.1007/s10461-012-0270-6
- Authors
- Robert L. Cook, Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Florida, PO Box 100231, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
- Fang Zhu, Biostatistics Facilities, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Bea Herbeck Belnap, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Kathleen M. Weber, The CORE Center, Cook County Bureau of Health Services, Chicago, IL, USA
- Stephen R. Cole, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- David Vlahov, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Judith A. Cook, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA
- Nancy A. Hessol, Departments of Clinical Pharmacy and Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Tracey E. Wilson, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Michael Plankey, Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
- Andrea A. Howard, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
- Gerald B. Sharp, Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Jean L. Richardson, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Mardge H. Cohen, Department of Medicine, Cook County Health and Hospitals System and Rush University, Chicago, IL, USA
- Journal AIDS and Behavior
- Online ISSN 1573-3254
- Print ISSN 1090-7165