Associations Between Patterns of Alcohol Use and Viral Load Suppression Amongst Women Living with HIV in South Africa

Myers, B., Lombard, C., Joska, J. A., Abdullah, F., Naledi, T., Lund, C., Petersen Williams, P., Stein, D. J. and Sorsdahl, K. R. (2021) Associations Between Patterns of Alcohol Use and Viral Load Suppression Amongst Women Living with HIV in South Africa. AIDS and Behavior, 25 (11). pp. 3758-3769. ISSN 1090-7165

Microsoft Word (rba08-Petersen_Williams_etal_As) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (524kB)

Abstract

This study aimed to identify alcohol use patterns associated with viral non-suppression among women living with HIV (WLWH) and the extent to which adherence mediated these relationships. Baseline data on covariates, alcohol consumption, ART adherence, and viral load were collected from 608 WLWH on ART living in the Western Cape, South Africa. We defined three consumption patterns: no/light drinking (drinking ≤ 1/week and ≤ 4 drinks/occasion), occasional heavy episodic drinking (HED) (drinking > 1 and ≤ 2/week and ≥ 5 drinks/occasion) and frequent HED (drinking ≥ 3 times/week and ≥ 5 drinks/occasion). In multivariable analyses, occasional HED (OR 3.07, 95% CI 1.78–5.30) and frequent HED (OR 7.11, 95% CI 4.24–11.92) were associated with suboptimal adherence. Frequent HED was associated with viral non-suppression (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.30–3.28). Suboptimal adherence partially mediated the relationship between frequent HED and viral non-suppression. Findings suggest a direct relationship between frequency of HED and viral suppression. Given the mediating effects of adherence on this relationship, alcohol interventions should be tailored to frequency of HED while also addressing adherence.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability: Data reported in this paper are available on written request.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	alcohol,hiv,mediators,south africa,viral load suppression,women,social psychology,public health, environmental and occupational health,infectious diseases ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200/3207
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2026 15:30
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2026 15:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102180
DOI:	10.1007/s10461-021-03263-3

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item