Lower rates of ART initiation and decreased retention among ART-naive patients who consume alcohol enrolling in HIV care and treatment programs in Kenya and Uganda.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Almost 13 million people are estimated to be on antiretroviral therapy in Eastern and Southern Africa, and their disease course and program effectiveness could be significantly affected by the concurrent use of alcohol. Screening for alcohol use may be important to assess the prevalence of alcohol consumption and its impact on patient and programmatic outcomes.

Methods

As part of this observational study, data on patient characteristics and alcohol consumption were collected on a cohort of 765 adult patients enrolling in HIV care in East Africa. Alcohol consumption was assessed with the AUDIT questionnaire at enrollment. Subjects were classified as consuming any alcohol (AUDIT score >0), hazardous drinkers (AUDIT score ≥8) and hyper drinkers (AUDIT score ≥16). The

SUBMITTER: Patsis I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7584184 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature