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Substance Use Patterns of HIV-Infected Russian Women with and Without Hepatitis C Virus Co-infection

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Abstract

Individuals with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection may experience substance use related health complications. This study characterized substance use patterns between HIV/HCV co-infected and HIV mono-infected Russian women. HIV-infected women (N = 247; M age = 30.0) in St. Petersburg, Russia, completed a survey assessing substance use, problematic substance use, and the co-occurrence of substance use and sexual behaviors. Covariate adjusted logistic and linear regression analyses indicated that HIV/HCV co-infected participants (57.1 %) reported more lifetime drug use (e.g., heroin: AOR: 13.2, 95 % CI 4.9, 35.3, p < .001), problem drinking (β = 1.2, p = .05), substance use problems (β = 1.3, p = .009), and increased likelihood of past injection drug use (AOR: 26.4, 95 % CI 8.5, 81.9, p < .001) relative to HIV mono-infected individuals. HIV/HCV co-infection was prevalent and associated with increased substance use and problematic drug use. Findings highlight the need for ongoing substance use and HIV/HCV risk behavior assessment and treatment among HIV/HCV co-infected Russian women.

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Funding

Jennifer L. Brown was supported by R03DA0377860 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Ralph J. DiClemente was supported by grant 1U01DA0362233 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and 1R01AA018096 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Addiction Sciences Division, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3131 Harvey Avenue, Suite 104, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Jennifer L. Brown

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ralph J. DiClemente, Jessica M. Sales & Eve S. Rose

  3. Centers for AIDS Research, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ralph J. DiClemente & Jessica M. Sales

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ralph J. DiClemente

  5. St. Petersburg AIDS Center, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Polina Safonova & Vadim V. Rassokhin

  6. Stellit, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Olga S. Levina

  7. North-West Regional Center for Control and Prevention of AIDS, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Nikolay Belyakov

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  1. Jennifer L. Brown
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Correspondence to Jennifer L. Brown.

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Dr. Brown, Dr. DiClemente, Dr. Sales, Ms. Rose, Ms. Safonova, Ms. Levina, Dr. Belyakov, Dr. Rassokhin declares that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Brown, J.L., DiClemente, R.J., Sales, J.M. et al. Substance Use Patterns of HIV-Infected Russian Women with and Without Hepatitis C Virus Co-infection. AIDS Behav 20, 2398–2407 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1362-5

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