Effects of combined counseling and case management to reduce HIV risk behaviors among Hispanic drug injectors in Puerto Rico: A randomized controlled study

• Published in: Journal of substance abuse treatment Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 145 - 152
• Main Authors: Robles, Rafaela R., Reyes, Juan C., Colón, Héctor M., Sahai, Hardeo, Marrero, C. Amalia, Matos, Tomás D., Calderón, José M., Shepard, Elizabeth W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-09-2004; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Case Management; Clinical trials; Counseling; Counseling - methods; Desintoxication. Drug withdrawal; Drug addiction; Drug treatment; Drug use; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health risk assessment; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic people; Hispanics; HIV; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV/AIDS; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Injection drug users; Interview, Psychological - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Motivation; Multivariate Analysis; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Puerto Rico; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - rehabilitation; Treatments; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Central America; Puerto Rico; America; West Indies; United States > US; HIV/AIDS; Puerto Rico; Drug treatment; Hispanics; Injection drug users; Immunopathology; Drug addiction; Intravenous administration; Psychological counseling; Managed care; Retroviridae; Behavior change; AIDS; Latinamerican; Immune deficiency; Lentivirus; Infection; Virus; Prevention; Randomization; Viral disease; Human immunodeficiency virus; Public health
• ISSN: 0740-5472; 1873-6483
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2004.06.004

This study examined the effectiveness of a combined counseling and case management behavioral intervention, using motivational interviewing strategies, in engaging Hispanic injection drug users in treatment and reducing drug use and injection-related HIV risk behaviors. Follow up data are presented on 440 (79.0%) of 557 randomized participants, 6 months after the initial interview. Subjects in the experimental arm were significantly less likely to continue drug injection independent of entering drug treatment, and were also more likely to enter drug treatment. Subjects in both arms who entered drug treatment were less likely to continue drug injection. Among subjects who continued drug injection, those in the experimental arm were significantly less likely to share needles. Confirming the outcomes of this study in other Hispanic sites and populations could be a critical step towards reducing factors that contribute to the self-sustaining HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico and communities in the U.S. mainland.