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Behaviour
Original research
Alcohol and drug use, partner PrEP use and STI prevalence among people with HIV
  1. J Carlo Hojilla1,2,
  2. Julia Marcus3,
  3. Jonathan E Volk4,
  4. Wendy Leyden2,
  5. C Bradley Hare4,
  6. Rulin C Hechter5,
  7. E Jennifer Edelman6,
  8. Michael Silverberg2,
  9. Derek D Satre1,2
  1. 1 Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
  2. 2 Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, California, USA
  3. 3 Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  4. 4 Department of Adult and Family Medicine, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA
  5. 5 Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, California, USA
  6. 6 Department of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr J Carlo Hojilla, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA; carlo.hojilla{at}ucsf.edu

Abstract

Objectives People with HIV (PWH) have a high burden of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We examined the relationship of alcohol and drug use and partner pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use to STI prevalence in a cohort of PWH with a history of unhealthy alcohol use.

Methods We analysed data from a primary care-based alcohol intervention study at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC). Participants were recruited between April 2013 and May 2015 and were followed for up to 24 months. We linked participant responses to questions from the 24 month follow-up interview, including alcohol and drug use and partner PrEP use, with STI test results (ie, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea) in the KPNC electronic health record. Prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using Poisson models fitted with robust variance estimators to evaluate the association of substance use and partner use of PrEP with STIs.

Results In the analytic sample (n=465), the median age was 52 years (IQR 45–59); 67% were white; 95% were men who have sex with men. Thirty-two per cent of participants had HIV-positive partners only; 31% had HIV-negative partners with at least one on PrEP in the previous year and 37% had HIV-negative partners without any on PrEP. Twenty-three per cent reported alcohol and drug use prior to sex in the last 6 months. Eight per cent of participants had an STI. Partner PrEP use (adjusted PR (aPR) 2.99 (95% CI 1.11 to 8.08)) was independently associated with higher STI prevalence. Participants who reported use of alcohol (aPR 1.53 (0.61 to 3.83)), drugs (aPR 1.97 (0.71 to 5.51)) or both (aPR 1.93 (0.75 to 4.97)) prior to sex had a higher STI prevalence.

Conclusions The higher prevalence of STIs among PWH with unhealthy alcohol use who have partners on PrEP suggests that this subgroup may be a high-yield focus for targeted outreach, STI screening and sexual health counselling.

  • HIV
  • PROPHYLAXIS
  • SUBSTANCE MISUSE
  • SEXUAL HEALTH

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2019-054049

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Claudia S Estcourt

    • MS and DDS contributed equally.

    • Contributors JCH, DDS and MJS designed the study and analytical plan. JEV helped review electronic health record data and interpret STI test results. JCH completed the analysis and drafted the manuscript with input from DDS, MS, JEV and JM. All authors provided critical revisions to the manuscript and approved the final version for publication.

    • Funding National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U01 AA021997 and K24 AA025703). National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32 DA007250). National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (K01 AI122853). Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit research grant.

    • Competing interests JM has received research grant support from Merck and has consulted on a research grant to Kaiser Permanente Northern California from Gilead Sciences. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data availability statement No data are available.