title: Modeling a Theory-Based Approach to Examine the Influence of Neurocognitive Impairment on HIV Risk Reduction Behaviors Among Drug Users in Treatment.
abstract: Although it is well established that people who use drugs (PWUDs, sus siglas en inglés) are characterized by significant neurocognitive impairment (NCI), there has been no examination of how NCI may impede one's ability to accrue the expected HIV prevention benefits stemming from an otherwise efficacious intervention. This paper incorporated a theoretical Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of health behavior change (IMB) to examine the potential influence of NCI on HIV prevention outcomes as significantly moderating the mediation defined in the original model. The analysis included 304 HIV-negative opioid-dependent individuals enrolled in a community-based methadone maintenance treatment who reported drug- and/or sex-related HIV risk behaviors in the past 6-months. Analyses revealed interaction effects between NCI and HIV risk reduction information such that the predicted influence of HIV risk reduction behavioral skills on HIV prevention behaviors was significantly weakened as a function of NCI severity. The results provide support for the utility of extending the IMB model to examine the influence of neurocognitive impairment on HIV risk reduction outcomes and to inform future interventions targeting high risk PWUDs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.|Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Tania B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Huedo-Medina
authors.affiliation: Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.|Department of Community Medicine & Health Care, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT, 06030, USA.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.affiliation: Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. michael.copenhaver@uconn.edu.|Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. michael.copenhaver@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Copenhaver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055030:Drug Users / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Drug users; HIV risk reduction; IMB model; Moderated mediation; Neurocognitive impairment