A multilevel intervention to reduce stigma among alcohol consuming men living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy: findings from a randomized control trial in India

Assessing the Effectiveness of Multilevel Intervention Sequences on "Tension" Among Men Living with HIV: A Randomized-Control Trial

BACKGROUND

Tension (often times called "Tenshun" in Hindi) is a cultural expression used to convey feelings of distress and common mental disorders in India and among South Asia communities. This study compared the effectiveness of different intervention sequences in reducing tension among alcohol-consuming men living with HIV in India.

METHOD

This secondary data analysis paper utilized data from a randomized trial study titled "Alcohol and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Adherence: Assessment, Intervention, and Modeling in India." The multilevel interventions, including individual counseling (IC), group intervention (GI), and collective advocacy (CA), were conducted sequentially over three cycles at three ART centers. Additionally, another ART center, serving as a pilot site, received all three interventions simultaneously in the final cycle. Participants completed surveys assessing demographic characteristics, tension, and other variables including HIV stigma, a 4-day ART adherence, HIV symptoms, and depressive symptoms at four time points: baseline, 9 months, 18 months, and 24 months. General linear mixed models were employed to assess the intervention effects on tension.

RESULTS

Out of 940 participants, 666 reported experiencing tension, including 54% reporting high tension. At site 1, the GI-CA-IC sequence resulted in a slope of -0.06, indicating that this sequence reduced tension from T1 to T4 compared to the control group (p < 0.01). Additionally, the pilot site where the intervention package was conducted simultaneously had a slope of -0.06, indicating that the intervention package also reduced tension compared to the control group (p < 0.01). Conversely, the CA-IC-GI sequence resulted in a slope of 0.07, indicating that this sequence resulted in significantly higher tension levels than the control group (p = 0.008) contrary to the expectation that the sequence would reduce tension.

CONCLUSION

This study contributes valuable insights on the issue of tension among alcohol-consuming men living with HIV. The significant reduction in tension observed at the site using the GI-CA-IC sequence, which began with a group intervention, underscores the importance of intervention order and the importance of group intervention within multilevel intervention programs for tension reduction. Further research is needed to validate these observations and broaden our understanding of effective tension management strategies among people living with HIV in diverse settings.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

URL: clinicaltrials.gov.

REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT03746457.

Longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms among alcohol consuming men with HIV in India

BACKGROUND

Depression and alcohol use are common among people living with HIV (PLWH) and associated with adverse outcomes. However, there is a paucity of studies exploring trajectories of depressive symptom presence over time among alcohol consuming men PLWH.

METHODS

Men PLWH were repeatedly assessed for depressive symptoms from baseline through 27 months using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify trajectories of depressive symptoms over time among control (n = 188) and intervention participants (n = 564). Multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between trajectory subgroups and baseline independent variables.

RESULTS

Among intervention participants, the three subgroups were characterized as 'low' (85.8 % of the participants), 'fluctuating' (8.7 %), and 'persistently increasing' symptoms (5.5 %). Similarly, three trajectory subgroups among control participants were labeled as: "low" (54.4 %); "fluctuating" (33.5 %) and "persistently increasing'" (12.1 %). Among intervention participants, longer duration since HIV diagnosis (aOR: 1.05, 95 % CI: 1.01-1.12) and HIV-related stigma (aOR: 1.09, 95 % CI: 1.02-1.18) were associated with persistently increasing depressive symptoms trajectory. Further, alcohol drinking problems (aOR: 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.04-1.17) was associated with fluctuating depressive symptoms trajectory. Among control participants, only lower overall self-rated health status was associated with persistently increasing depressive symptoms trajectory (aOR: 0.96, 95 % CI: 0.93-0.99).

LIMITATIONS

Selection bias; Information bias; Lack of causal interference; Generalizability.

CONCLUSION

Identifying subgroups of men PLWH with different depressive symptoms trajectories may inform effective and tailored intervention approaches to address mental health treatment and prevention among alcohol consuming men PLWH in India and elsewhere.

Systematic review and quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis of interventions to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination

A strong global commitment exists to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and multiple strategies to reduce or eliminate stigma and discrimination have been tried. Using a PICOTS framework and applying the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria, we undertook a systematic review to determine the success of interventions aiming to address internalized stigma, stigma and discrimination in healthcare, and at the legal or policy level, and to identify their critical success factors. Random effects meta-analyses summarized results wherever possible. We carried out a component analysis to identify and characterize successful interventions. Internalized stigma interventions were diverse: across all studies, we found a reduction of stigma but it was not statistically significant [standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.56; confidence interval (CI) 0.31-1.02; 17 studies). For interventions to address stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings, effect estimates varied considerably but most studies showed positive effects (SMD 0.71; CI 0.60-0.84, 8 studies). Boosted regression analyses found that a combined approach comprising education, counseling, community participation, support person, and access to a HIV specialist often yielded success. Studies of efforts to address stigma and discrimination through law and policy documented, mostly qualitatively, the effect of court cases and directives. Across a range of settings and populations, promising interventions have been identified that, through diverse pathways, have positively impacted the types of stigma and discrimination studied. This evidence base must be built upon and brought to scale to help reach global HIV-related targets and, most importantly, improve the health and quality of life of people with HIV.

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.

Gender minority stress and access to health care services among transgender women and transfeminine people: results from a cross-sectional study in China

Background

Transgender and gender diverse individuals often face structural barriers to health care because of their gender minority status. The aim of this study was to examine the association between gender minority stress and access to specific health care services among transgender women and transfeminine people in China.

Methods

This multicenter cross-sectional study recruited participants between January 1st and June 30th 2020. Eligible participants were 18 years or older, assigned male at birth, not currently identifying as male, and living in China. Gender minority stress was measured using 45 items adapted from validated subscales. We examined access to health care services and interventions relevant to transgender and gender diverse people, including gender affirming interventions (hormones, surgeries), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Multivariable regression was used to measure correlations between gender minority stress and access to health care service.

Results

Three hundred and twenty-four people completed a survey and data from 277 (85.5%) people were analyzed. The mean age was 29 years old (standard deviation [SD] = 8). Participants used hormones (118/277, 42.6%), gender affirming surgery (26/277, 9.4%), HIV testing (220/277, 79.4%), STI testing (132/277, 47.7%), PrEP (24/276, 8.7%), and PEP (29/267, 10.9%). Using gender affirming hormones was associated with higher levels of discrimination (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–1.70) and internalized transphobia (aOR 1.06, 95%CI 1.00–1.12). STI testing was associated with lower levels of internalized transphobia (aOR 0.91, 95%CI 0.84–0.98).

Conclusions

Our data suggest that gender minority stress is closely related to using health services. Stigma reduction interventions and gender-affirming medical support are needed to improve transgender health.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-021-06782-5.