Long-term alcohol use patterns and HIV disease severity.

ABSTRACT: We examined the relationship between alcohol use trajectories and HIV disease severity among men and women participating in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS).Prospective cohort of HIV-infected persons in care at eight US Veterans Health Administration sites.Between 2002 and 2010, we assessed alcohol consumption annually using the alcohol use disorders identification test-consumption (AUDIT-C). HIV disease severity was ascertained using the VACS index, a validated measure of morbidity and all-cause mortality. We examined the relationship between alcohol use and HIV disease severity patterns using joint trajectory modeling. Alcohol use trajectories were validated using phosphatidylethanol - a biomarker of alcohol consumption - measured between 2005 and 2006 among a subset of participants. We examined associations between membership in alcohol use and VACS index trajectories using multinomial regression.Among eligible participants, we identified four alcohol consumption trajectories: abstainers (24% of the sample), lower risk (44%), moderate risk (24%), and higher risk drinkers (8%). Alcohol use trajectories were highly correlated with phosphatidylethanol (Cramér's V?=?0.465, P?

SUBMITTER: Marshall BDL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5596310 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature