The Relationship Between Harmful Alcohol Use and Antiretroviral Non-adherence in People Accessing HIV Treatment in Cape Town, South Africa: An Event-Level Analysis

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Alexandra L. Rose
  • Jennifer M. Belus
  • Tianzhou Ma
  • Jasper S. Lee
  • Christine Wan
  • Andres De los Reyes
  • John A. Joska
  • Andersen, Lena Skovgaard
  • Bronwyn Myers
  • Jessica F. Magidson
Harmful alcohol consumption can significantly compromise adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Prior research has identified aggregate relationships between alcohol use and ART non-adherence, largely relying on concurrent assessment of these domains. There is relatively limited evidence on more nuanced day-level associations between alcohol use and ART non-adherence, despite potentially important clinical implications. We recruited adults with HIV treatment adherence challenges and harmful alcohol use (n=53) from HIV care in South Africa. We examined relationships between alcohol use and same and next day ART adherence, accounting for the role of weekends/holidays and participant demographics, including gender. Results demonstrated that ART adherence was significantly worse on weekend/holiday days. Next day adherence was significantly worse in the context of weekend alcohol use and among men. These results suggest the importance of tailoring intervention strategies to support ART adherence during weekend drinking and for men engaged in heavy episodic drinking.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAIDS and Behavior
Volume26
Pages (from-to)2055–2066
Number of pages12
ISSN1090-7165
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

    Research areas

  • HIV, Alcohol, Antiretroviral therapy, South Africa, Treatment adherence

ID: 290517655