Substance use, self-rated health and HIV status in Brazil

ABSTRACTWe compared the prevalence of of non-injecting drug use (NIDU) and Self-Rated Health (SRH) among individuals self-reporting as HIV-positive (PLWHA), HIV-negative and unknown at the III Brazilian Household Survey on Substance Use. Overall, 16,273 individuals, 12-65 years old, were interviewed in 2015. Prevalence and Standard Error (SE) were estimated considering the complex sample design and weight calibration. Chi-square tests with Rao-Scott adjustment were used to test independence between NIDU, SRH and HIV status. PLWHA presented higher frequencies of 12-month use for most substances than those reporting to be HIV-negative: alcohol use prevalence was 49.5% (SE 12.8) vs. 43.1% (SE 0.7), p = 0.34; tobacco 45.3% (SE 12.7) vs. 15.3% (SE 0.4), p < 0.01; amphetamines 1.7% (SE 1.7) vs. 0.3% (SE 0.1), p = 0.51; cannabis 10.5%(SE 6.7) vs. 2.5%(0.2), p = 0.06; powder cocaine 3.6% (SE 3.0) vs. 0.9% (SE 0.1), p = 0.45; crack-cocaine 5.3% (SE 3.2) vs. 0.3% (SE 0.1), p < 0.01; inhalants 3.6% (SE 3.0) vs. 0.2% (SE 0), p = 0.03; ketamine 1.7%(SE 1.7) vs. 0.1% (SE 0), p = 0.23; and opioids 1.7% (SE 1.7) vs. 1.4% (SE 0.2), p = 0.93. PLWHA also reported worse SRH. Our results and the scarcity of integrated substance use and HIV treatments call for innovative, cost-effective approaches to tackle these public health challenges.