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Perceived Medical Risks of Drinking, Alcohol Consumption, and Hepatitis C Status Among Heavily Drinking HIV Primary Care Patients
Author(s) -
Elliott Jennifer C.,
Aharonovich Efrat,
O'Leary Ann,
Johnston Barbara,
Hasin Deborah S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/acer.12570
Subject(s) - medicine , binge drinking , environmental health , odds ratio , intervention (counseling) , hepatitis c , alcohol abuse , injury prevention , poison control , psychiatry
Background Heavy drinking poses significant risks to the health and survival of individuals infected with HIV , particularly those coinfected with hepatitis C virus ( HCV ). However, little is known about patients’ perceptions of these risks, and whether these perceptions relate to their alcohol consumption. Methods A sample of 254 heavily drinking HIV primary care patients (78% male; 94.5% minority; 31.8% with HCV ) reported on their perceptions of the medical risks of drinking and on their alcohol consumption prior to participation in a drinking‐reduction intervention trial. Results In the HIV ‐infected sample as a whole, 62.9% reported that they had a medical problem made worse by drinking, and 64.3% reported restricting drinking to avoid future medical problems. Although patients coinfected with HIV / HCV reported greater efforts to restrict drinking to avoid future medical problems (adjusted odds ratio = 1.94), their reported drinking quantity and frequency did not differ from that of HIV mono‐infected patients. Awareness of medical risk was not associated with drinking level. Effort to restrict drinking to avoid medical risk was associated with lower drinking quantity, frequency, and binge frequency ( ps < 0.05), but the association with binge frequency was specific to patients without HCV . Conclusions Over one‐third of HIV patients are unaware of the medical risks of drinking, and do not restrict use, suggesting the need for intervention in this group. Patients coinfected with HIV / HCV may report more effort to restrict drinking, but their reported drinking quantity and frequency suggest that they are actually drinking just as heavily as HIV mono‐infected patients. Awareness of medical risk was unrelated to drinking, which suggests the need for interventions consisting of more than simple education. However, reported effort to restrict drinking did predict less drinking, suggesting the importance of patient commitment and initiative in change.