title: A randomized trial of an education and support program for HIV-infected individuals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effectiveness of an intervention for providing information and support to HIV-positive donors on changes in their sexual behavior, and to assess which donor characteristics are predictive of behavior change.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were randomly assigned to a structured intervention or community referral group. Follow-up assessments were conducted every 6 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  New York City, New York, USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 271 HIV-infected persons who donated blood to the New York Blood Center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Donors randomized to the structured intervention program met individually with a nurse for counseling and were offered a six-session support group. The program was designed to provide information, encourage safer sexual behavior and provide support.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sexual behavior, psychological distress and psychological help seeking, and immune function.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both groups there was a large decrease over time in reports of unsafe sexual activity. However, more than 30% of participants in both groups reported unsafe sexual activity at the 1-year follow-up visit. Donors randomized to the structured intervention program did not report significantly more behavior change at the 1-year follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Better programs to promote behavior change in seropositive individuals are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Cleary
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Devanter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steilen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shipton-Levy
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: McMullen
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Avorn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pindyck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012725:Sexual Behavior