Discrimination and alcohol problems among heavy drinking HIV-positive men who have sex with men: The buffering effect of a brief Motivational Intervention to reduce alcohol use

Rural Veterans with HIV and Alcohol Use Disorder receive less video telehealth than urban Veterans

PURPOSE

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is highly prevalent among Veterans with HIV. Rural Veterans with HIV are at especially high risk for not receiving appropriate treatment. This retrospective cohort cross-sectional study aimed to investigate patterns of mental health treatment utilization across delivery modality among Veterans diagnosed with HIV and AUD. It was hypothesized that rural Veterans with HIV and AUD would receive a lower rate of mental health treatment delivered via video telehealth than urban Veterans with HIV and AUD.

METHODS

A national Veterans Health Association administrative database was used to identify a cohort of Veterans diagnosed with HIV and AUD (N = 2,075). Geocoding was used to categorize rural Veterans (n = 246) and urban Veterans (n = 1,829). Negative binomial regression models tested associations between rurality and mental health treatment delivered via face-to-face, audio-only, and video telehealth modalities.

FINDINGS

Results demonstrated that rural Veterans with HIV and AUD received fewer mental health treatment sessions delivered via telehealth than urban Veterans with HIV and AUD (incidence rate ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence intervals [0.44, 0.87]; P < .01). No differences were found in terms of treatment delivered face-to-face or by audio-only.

CONCLUSIONS

Rural Veterans with HIV and AUD represent a vulnerable subpopulation of Veterans who may most benefit from video telehealth. Efforts to increase access and improve the uptake of evidence-based mental health treatment delivered via video telehealth are needed.

Economic Cost of the HealthCall Smartphone Intervention to Reduce Heavy Alcohol Drinking in Adults With HIV

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol use among people living with HIV (PLWH) can reduce adherence and worsen health outcomes. We evaluated the economic cost of an effective smartphone application (HealthCall) to reduce drinking and improve antiretroviral adherence among heavy-drinking PLWH participating in a randomized trial.

METHOD

Participants were randomized to receive a brief drinking-reduction intervention, either (a) the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Clinician's Guide (CG-only, n = 37), (b) CG enhanced by HealthCall to monitor daily alcohol consumption (CG+HealthCall, n = 38), or (c) motivational interviewing delivered by a nonclinician enhanced by HealthCall (MI+HealthCall, n = 39). We used micro-costing techniques to evaluate start-up costs and incremental costs per participant incurred from the health care sector perspective in 2018 U.S. dollars. We also investigated potential cost offsets using participant-reported health care utilization.

RESULTS

Participants attended three intervention visits, and each visit cost on average $29 for CG-only, $32 for CG+HealthCall, and $15 for MI+HealthCall. The total intervention cost per participant was $94 for CG-only, $114 for CG+HealthCall, and $57 for MI+HealthCall; the incremental cost of CG+HealthCall compared with CG-only was $20 per participant, and the incremental savings of MI+HealthCall compared with CG-only was $37 per participant. No significant differences in health care utilization occurred among the three groups over 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The cost of enhancing CG with the HealthCall application for heavy-drinking PLWH was modestly higher than using the CG alone, whereas MI enhanced with HealthCall delivered by a nonclinician had a lower cost than CG alone. HealthCall may be a low-cost enhancement to brief interventions addressing alcohol use and antiretroviral adherence among PLWH.

HIV-related stigma, depression and suicidal ideation among HIV-positive MSM in China: a moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

As the HIV epidemic among MSM in China continues, Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) face various mental health difficulties, including suicide ideation, depression, and stigma. The current study aims to assess the mechanisms between HIV-related stigma, depression, and suicidal ideation among MSM in China.

METHODS

This national cross-sectional study was completed on the geosocial networking application (GSN) app, Blued, from December 2020 to March 2021. We used the HIV Stigma Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D10) to measure HIV stigma and depression, respectively. Suicidal ideation was measured by the suicidal ideation-related item. Descriptive analyses, logistic regression, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 244 HIV-positive MSM were included in the analysis. The mediation model revealed that the direct pathway of perceived HIV-related stigma on suicidal ideation was significant (standardized pathway coefficient = 0.07), and the indirect pathway of perceived HIV-related stigma on suicidal ideation via depression was also significant (standardized pathway coefficient = 0.04). There was a partial mediating effect of depression in the association between perceived HIV-related stigma and suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study found that both perceived HIV-related stigma and depression were associated with suicidal ideation among HIV-positive MSM in China, and that depression could serve as a mediator between HIV-related stigma and suicidal ideation. Targeted interventions regarding HIV-related stigma and depression should be taken into account to reduce suicidal ideation among HIV-positive MSM in China.

Alcohol Use, HIV Stigma and Quality of Life Among Alcohol Consuming Men Living with HIV in India: A Mediation Analysis

This study examined the hypothesis that HIV-related stigma mediates the effect of alcohol use on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among alcohol consuming Indian men living with HIV (PLWH). The study used baseline data from a randomized controlled clinical trial entitled 'Alcohol and ART adherence: Assessment, Intervention, and Modeling in India. Participants completed surveys assessing demographic characteristics, alcohol use, HIV-related stigma, HRQoL. Mediation analysis was conducted to establish the mediation effect of HIV-related stigma on the relationship between alcohol use and HRQoL. The final mediation model showed that the effect of alcohol use on HRQoL were partially mediated by overall HIV-related stigma. Specially, 27.1% of the effects of alcohol use on HRQoL was mediated through overall HIV stigma. In the HIV stigma subdomain analyses, negative self-image mediated 14% and concerns with public attitudes (anticipated stigma) mediated 17.3% of the effect of alcohol use on HRQoL respectively. The findings suggest that efforts to reduce the negative impact of alcohol use on HRQoL and improve HRQoL among PLWH should include interventions addressing both alcohol use and specific forms of HIV-related stigma.