title: A brief intervention for hazardous drinkers in a needle exchange program.
abstract: Active injection drug users (IDUs) who are also hazardous alcohol users are at particularly high risk for HIV transmission due to sharing of injection equipment. We recruited AUDIT-positive injectors from the Providence, RI needle exchange program for a randomized clinical trial testing the effect of a brief motivational intervention (MI) on frequency of injection-related HIV risk behavior (IRRB). HIV drug risk behavior was measured as the number of days on which subjects reported sharing works using the 30-day Timeline Followback Method. Overall, 109 subjects reported a mean reduction of IRRB days of 9.1 days from baseline to 6-month follow-up (p <.001). When compared to controls, there was a trend in reduction of IRRB days to zero at follow-up for MI subject (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 0.9-4.5), and strongly significant reductions in IRRB days across a range of alternative improvement thresholds. Results from this study demonstrate that MI reduces drug-related HIV risk behaviors among active IDUs. As a brief intervention, MI may be a useful adjunct to existing services intended to reduce harm.
authors.affiliation: Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI 02912, USA. mstein@lifespan.org
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Charuvastra
authors.forename: Jinane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maksad
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Friedmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology*; D003376:Counseling; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018671:Needle-Exchange Programs; D012237:Rhode Island; D012309:Risk-Taking; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors