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Number of Drinks to “Feel a Buzz” by HIV Status and Viral Load in Men

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Abstract

The impact of HIV and its treatment on the effects of alcohol remain unclear. Blood alcohol concentrations have been noted to be higher in HIV infected individuals prior to antiretroviral initiation. Our goal was to compare number of drinks to “feel a buzz or high” among HIV infected and uninfected men, stratified by viral load (VL) suppression. Data includes 1478 HIV infected and 1170 uninfected men in the veterans aging cohort study who endorsed current drinking. Mean (SD) number of drinks to feel a buzz was 3.1 (1.7) overall. In multivariable analyses, HIV infected men reported a lower mean number of drinks to feel a buzz compared to uninfected men (coef = −14 for VL < 500; −34 for VL ≥ 500; p ≤ .05). Men with HIV, especially those with a detectable VL, reported fewer drinks to feel a buzz. Future research on the relationship between alcohol and HIV should consider the role of VL suppression.

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Abbreviations

VACS:

Veteran Aging Cohort Study

ART:

Antiretroviral therapy

VL:

HIV RNA viral load

AUDIT-C:

Alcohol use disorder identification test-consumption

HED:

Heavy episodic drinking

ICD-9:

International classification of diseases, ninth revision

BMI:

Body mass index

SD:

Standard deviation

Haz:

Hazardous

Alc Rel Dx:

Alcohol related ICD-9 diagnosis

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Acknowledgments

The views are not those of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. COMpAAAS/Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a CHAART Cooperative Agreement, is supported by the National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U24-AA020794, U01-AA020790, U01-AA020795, U01-AA020799; U10 AA013566-completed) and in kind by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Kathleen A. McGinnis & Adam J. Gordon

  2. Veterans Aging Cohort Study Coordinating Center, VA CT Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA

    Kathleen A. McGinnis, David A. Fiellin, Janet P. Tate, E. Jennifer Edelman & Amy C. Justice

  3. Division of General Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    David A. Fiellin, Janet P. Tate, E. Jennifer Edelman & Amy C. Justice

  4. Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, USA

    David A. Fiellin, Janet P. Tate, E. Jennifer Edelman & Amy C. Justice

  5. Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Robert L. Cook

  6. Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA

    R. Scott Braithwaite

  7. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Kendall J. Bryant

  8. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Adam J. Gordon & Kevin L. Kraemer

  9. Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Stephen A. Maisto

Authors
  1. Kathleen A. McGinnis
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  2. David A. Fiellin
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  3. Janet P. Tate
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  4. Robert L. Cook
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  5. R. Scott Braithwaite
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  6. Kendall J. Bryant
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  7. E. Jennifer Edelman
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  8. Adam J. Gordon
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  9. Kevin L. Kraemer
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  10. Stephen A. Maisto
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  11. Amy C. Justice
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The Veterans Aging Cohort Study

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Correspondence to Kathleen A. McGinnis.

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McGinnis, K.A., Fiellin, D.A., Tate, J.P. et al. Number of Drinks to “Feel a Buzz” by HIV Status and Viral Load in Men. AIDS Behav 20, 504–511 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1053-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1053-7

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