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Alcohol Use Patterns and Subsequent Sexual Behaviors Among Women, Men who have Sex with Men and Men who have Sex with Women Engaged in Routine HIV Care in the United States

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Abstract

Among people with HIV, alcohol use is associated with increased prevalence of sexual transmission behaviors. We examined associations between alcohol use in the prior year and sexual behaviors approximately six months later among 1857 women, 6752 men who have sex with men (MSM) and 2685 men who have sex with women (MSW). Any alcohol use was associated with increased risk of unsafe vaginal sex among women; anal sex and =>2 anal sex partners among MSM; and anal sex, =>2 anal or vaginal sex partners, and unsafe vaginal sex among MSW. In particular, among women >7 alcoholic drinks/week and among MSW =>5 alcoholic drinks/drinking day increased the likelihood of certain subsequent sexual behaviors. For all groups, especially women, the risk of sex under the influence of drugs/alcohol markedly increased with increases in quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. These different patterns of drinking and sexual behaviors indicate the importance of tailored counseling messages to women, MSM and MSW.

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Funding

This study was funded by: NIAID CNICS R 24 AI067039 MICHAEL SAAG, NIAID: JHU CFAR P30 AI094189 BRYAN LAU, NIAAA U24 AA020801 MARY MCCAUL, NIAID UW CFAR P30 AI027757 HEIDI M. CRANE, NIAAA U01 AA020802 KAREN L. CROPSEY.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Meyer 3-147, 600 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA

    Heidi E. Hutton

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA

    Catherine R. Lesko & Bryan Lau

  3. Biostatics Center, Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA

    Ximin Li & Carol B. Thompson

  4. Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA

    Sonia Napravnik

  5. Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

    Kenneth H. Mayer

  6. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, USA

    W. Christopher Mathews

  7. Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

    Mary E. McCaul

  8. Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA

    Heidi M. Crane & Rob J. Fredericksen

  9. Department of Psychiatry, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, USA

    Karen L. Cropsey

  10. Department of Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, USA

    Michael Saag

  11. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, USA

    Katerina Christopoulos

  12. Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Geetanjali Chander

Authors
  1. Heidi E. Hutton
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  2. Catherine R. Lesko
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  3. Ximin Li
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  4. Carol B. Thompson
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  5. Bryan Lau
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  6. Sonia Napravnik
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  8. W. Christopher Mathews
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  9. Mary E. McCaul
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  10. Heidi M. Crane
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  13. Michael Saag
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  14. Katerina Christopoulos
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  15. Geetanjali Chander
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heidi E. Hutton.

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All the authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

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. Institutional review boards at each CNICS site approved the collection and analysis of the clinical data.

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Hutton, H.E., Lesko, C.R., Li, X. et al. Alcohol Use Patterns and Subsequent Sexual Behaviors Among Women, Men who have Sex with Men and Men who have Sex with Women Engaged in Routine HIV Care in the United States. AIDS Behav 23, 1634–1646 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2337-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2337-5

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