Alcohol use and sexual risk behavior among human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons.
BACKGROUND
This study was undertaken to determine if alcohol use is associated with sexual risk taking among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons.


METHODS
Cross-sectional interviews of 262 HIV-infected patients in the Brown University AIDS Program were performed. Factors associated with any sexual activity, unsafe sexual activity, and a 4-fold typology of sexual risk were examined. Alcohol measures included drinking days, drinks per drinking day, binge drinking, and hazardous alcohol use.


RESULTS
The sample was 58% male and 40% white; 67% of patients were self-identified as heterosexual, and 48% drank alcohol. Nearly two thirds of patients reported sexual activity in the past 6 months, with 38% reporting unprotected sex during that period. All measures of alcohol use were significantly associated with any sexual activity and with unsafe sexual behavior. As an example, controlling for age, HIV transmission risk, marital status, and HIV clinical indicators, hazardous drinkers were 5.64 times more likely to report unprotected sex and have multiple partners (p < 0.01) than were those not drinking at hazardous levels.


CONCLUSIONS
A high proportion of HIV-infected persons were sexually active and having unsafe sex. Alcohol, at all levels of use, was associated with increased sexual risk taking.
Stein
Michael
M
Rhode Island Hospital, Division of General Internal Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA. mstein@lifespan.org
Herman
Debra S
DS
Trisvan
Elizabeth
E
Pirraglia
Paul
P
Engler
Patricia
P
Anderson
Bradley J
BJ
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents