Sexual and drug risk-related behaviours after initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy among injection drug users

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To assess whether initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is associated with a subsequent resumption of sexual and drug use risk behaviors. Within an ongoing prospective study of HIV-seropositive injection drug users (IDUs), a subsample with at least one CD4 cell count 6 Of 316 eligible HIV-seropositive IDUs, 133 reported HAART use during the study period; 95% were African American, 76% were male, and median age at enrollment was 34 years. The proportion who reported any sexual activity increased over time from 55 to 61% for the HAART-treated group, but decreased from 67 to 63% in the untreated group (P = 0.03); the respective values for unprotected sex were 18 versus 20% and 36 versus 28% (P = 0.06). In both treated and untreated groups, the proportion injecting drugs declined (P = 0.04), whereas the proportion reporting needle sharing decreased marginally (P = 0.11). However, trends in use of shooting galleries between the groups differed (P = 0.04) increasing slightly from 2.3 to 3% in the treated group while decreasing from 12 to 5% in the untreated group. In persons treated with HAART, self-report of high-risk behaviors remained stable or showed some increase. Persons initiating HAART should be counselled to refrain from high-risk behaviors.