The relationships of HIV status and HIV risky behavior with readiness for treatment.
We investigated the associations of self-reported HIV status and risky injection practices with dependent variables measuring readiness and motivation for treatment and depression among 550 clients at two residential drug abuse treatment programs. The results suggest that a positive HIV status may be associated with motivation for treatment independently of and more strongly than risky behavior. In multivariable analyses, HIV status was associated with a scale measuring cons of drug use (P = 0.006). Risky behavior was associated with the dependent variables only in univariate analyses. The univariate association between risky behavior and depression was confounded by social desirability bias. Further research is needed to determine whether HIV-related variables predict retention or outcome of treatment.
University of Massachusetts AIDS Research Unit, School of Public Health, Amherst 01003.
J
J
McCusker
C
C
Bigelow
R
R
Frost
R
R
Hindin
M
M
Vickers-Lahti
M
M
Zorn
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001364:Awareness; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012008:Recurrence; D012928:Social Desirability; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013808:Therapeutic Community