AIDS Care

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) are associated with poor health outcomes. This cross-sectional study examined current alcohol use and AUD among 300 PLHIV on ART at four HIV care centres in Northwest Tanzania. Participants' data were collected using questionnaires. Alcohol use was assessed using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Logistic regression was used to examine associations between each outcome (current drinking and AUD) and sociodemographic and clinical factors...

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is seen as a key instrument through which to affect behaviour and improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes amongst adolescents. However, few studies have to date evaluated key SRH outcomes following exposure to CSE within a school setting. This study estimates the association between CSE and HIV testing and HIV testing self-efficacy amongst HIV positive adolescent girls. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey administered in four high HIV prevalence districts ...

Mental health problems are highly prevalent among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), yet mental health care in African countries is scarce. There is growing interest in understanding the effect of group therapy delivery models and task-shifting to support mental health care in African settings. We conducted a scoping review following the PRISMA-ScR statement on group therapy in PLWHA in Africa. We searched PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Google Scholar for articles published before October 2023 on evidence for effectiveness and acceptance of group therapies in PLWHA, and evidence of task-shifting approaches...

Contemporary evidence is needed to assess whether the prevalence of depression remains high among people living with HIV in the United Kingdom despite recent efforts to improve patients' mental health, and if depression is negatively associated with individuals' adherence to antiretroviral therapy. In a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional clinic-based survey of alcohol consumption and associated health behaviour among people living with HIV in London, of the 221 respondents, 106 (48%) had poor self-reported adherence to antiretroviral therapy (CASE Index) and 69 (31%) screened positive for depression (PHQ-9)...

The HIV epidemic continues to expand in Russia, with suboptimal levels of care uptake. This qualitative study aimed to characterize social capital resources and lived stigma experiences, coping, and disclosure among care-nonadherent men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV in Russia. Twenty-five HIV-positive MSM - recruited online - completed in-depth interviews over Zoom, with data analyzed using MAXQDA software. Stigma was more likely to be encountered in interactions with persons with whom social ties were weaker such as medical providers and relatives, particularly males...

Studies conducted early in the COVID-19 pandemic - before vaccines were widely available - indicated that drug use may have declined among sexual minority men (SMM). This study evaluated drug use trends in the second year of the pandemic. Cross-sectional responses from cisgender SMM living in the US and recruited online ( n  = 15,897) were grouped for analyses: Time 1: 3/1/2021-5/30/2021; Time 2: 6/1/2021-8/31/2021; Time 3: 9/1/2021-11/30/2021; and Time 4: 12/1 2021-2/28/2022. Results of multivariable models indicated that illicit drug use (excluding cannabis) increased at Times 2 ( OR  = 1...

Continuum of care is a concept that has been widely applied in HIV prevention and treatment studies. However, measuring care continuum can be challenging because it involves multiple stages and multiple components or domains at each stage of care. In this study, we introduced an analytical framework to (1) estimate intervention effects overall and by domain using a multi-level modeling approach, and (2) learn possible patterns of domains over time utilizing a multi-layer heatmap visualization. Longitudinal data from an intervention study conducted among people who use drugs in Vietnam were used to construct Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain (STTR) domain and overall scores...

Internalized HIV-related stigma (IHS) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) has been documented as one of the factors contributing to the ongoing AIDS epidemic. The purpose of this study, which was conducted from September 2021 to January 2022, was to measure prevalence and identify factors associated with IHS among research participants who were living with HIV recruited from a research clinic in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Participants were considered to have IHS if they agreed to at least one of the 8 items of the newly developed Thai Internalized HIV-related Stigma Scale (Thai-IHSS)...

Ending the HIV epidemic in the United States will require addressing social determinants contributing to poor care engagement among people living with HIV (PLH), such as food insecurity. Food insecurity is associated with poor care engagement among PLH. Yet, few studies have examined the perspectives of healthcare and social services providers on addressing food insecurity in HIV care. Guided by the Social Ecological Model, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 providers in New York State to understand barriers and facilitators to addressing food insecurity in HIV care...

Parental HIV disclosure, where parents living with HIV (PLH) communicate their diagnosis to their children, is crucial for family communication. This study assessed intervention effects of a parental HIV disclosure intervention on psychosocial factors, focusing on child's age impact. Data from a randomized controlled trial involving 791 PLH in China were analyzed at baseline (W1), 6-month (W2), and 12-month follow-ups (W3). The study measured effects on psychosocial factors (HIV disclosure knowledge, outcome expectancy, action self-efficacy, and action planning) using the proportional latent change score method...

This cross-sectional analysis aimed to describe beliefs about antiretroviral therapy (ART) in young people living with perinatal HIV (PHIV) in England, and the association between these beliefs and adherence to ART. The Beliefs About Medicine Questionnaire (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy version), was used to measure participants' beliefs in the necessity of ("Necessity score") and concerns regarding ("Concerns score") ART. Participants were classified as having high/low total scores using midpoints of the score scales...

ABSTRACT Without standard guidelines, there is a critical need to examine anal cancer screening uptake in the South which has the highest HIV incidence in the U.S. We identified factors associated with screening among men living with HIV (MLHIV) at a large academic HIV outpatient clinic in Alabama. Relationships between sociodemographic, clinical, sexual risk characteristics and screening were examined using T-tests, Fisher's exact, Chi-square, and logistic regression analyses. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were computed to estimate the odds of screening...

This paper highlights the pressing need to address the HIV epidemic among adolescent boys and young men (ABYM) in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite progress in HIV prevention, ABYM still experience low diagnosis rates, treatment adherence, and linkage to care. The paper emphasizes ABYM's vulnerability due to societal norms, limited healthcare access, and economic pressures. It calls for gender-responsive interventions, including comprehensive sexual education, youth-friendly health services, community engagement, and targeted outreach...

To investigate the prevalence of male circumcision and the willingness to undergo male circumcision and influencing factors among MSM in Maanshan City, we conducted a cross-sectional study from June 2016 to December 2019. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used to recruit participants. Influential factors of willingness to accept circumcision were identified by a multivariable logistic regression model. The multivariable logistic regression model revealed that five variables were independent influential factors for willingness to participate...

A clear and accurate assessment of depressive symptoms among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the past five years is essential to help develop reasonable and sound interventions to improve their depressive symptoms. PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Embase, CINAHL, and APA were searched from 1 January 2017 to 12 April 2022. The data were analyzed using STATA 15 Software to pool the global prevalence of depressive symptoms in PLWHA. Ultimately, 103785 PLWHA from 81 original studies were included...

The main goal of this study was to spatially analyze the HIV epidemic scenario in young men in Brazil, 2007-2021. We used secondary data obtained from the Brazilian Information System for Notifiable Diseases. Individuals aged 15-29 years with permanent residence in Brazil who were diagnosed with HIV during the study period were included in the analysis. Municipality HIV age-adjusted detection rates were analyzed through spatial distribution, autocorrelation, and spatiotemporal risk analyses. During the study period, 108,392 HIV cases were reported in young Brazilian men...

ABSTRACT Adolescents and young adults (young people) with HIV (YPWH) often struggle with treatment self-management. Many have symptoms due to HIV disease, medication side-effects, or comorbid conditions. Our study investigated the severity of HIV-related symptoms among YPWH aged 18-24 with detectable viral loads from an HIV clinic in Ghana ( N  = 60) and potential correlates of severity across a range of factors. Results indicated that YPWH currently experienced, on average, 13 symptoms (SD = 12...

We evaluated detectable viral load (VL) in pregnant women established on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for at least 6 months before conception and those self-reported as ART naïve at first antenatal care (ANC) at two government clinics in Southern Malawi. We used logistic regression to identify the predictors of detectable viral load (VL), defined as any measure greater than 400 copies/ml. Of 816 women, 67.9% were established on ART and 32.1% self-reported as ART naïve. Among women established on ART, 10...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to numerous negative health outcomes in adulthood and have been recognized as a hurdle to participating in HIV care. However, few studies have examined the cumulative impact that different types of childhood trauma have on HIV care engagement and HIV outcomes. This study characterized the relationship between ACEs, viral suppression, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among persons living with HIV (PLWH). We used HIV surveillance data and self-reported information on ACEs and HRQOL from PLWH in Washington State from 2018-2020...

This prospective cohort study investigated the mobility patterns of 200 pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in South Africa. Participants were enrolled during their third trimester from routine antenatal care near Cape Town, South Africa, and followed for six months postpartum. Quantitative data were collected at enrollment and follow-up. Mobility (self-reported) was common among the participants, despite the brief study period and the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic. While most reported stability in their current residence, 71% had a second main residence, primarily in the Eastern Cape (EC)...