Alcohol misuse and health-related behaviors among people with HIV during the COVID-19 stay-at-home directive: an...

Alcohol misuse may adversely impact health-promoting behaviors. Our objective was to evaluate health-related behaviors in people with HIV with alcohol misuse during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to understand how alcohol misuse influences these behaviors during health-related emergencies.

Eighty people with HIV (64% male, 51 ± 11 years of age), enrolled in the ALIVE-Ex Study (NCT03299205), consented to a cross-sectional phone survey during the Louisiana stay-at-home order. Alcohol use, dietary intake, physical activity (PA), and emotional well-being over the previous week were assessed. Based on their pre-pandemic Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) score, participants were categorized into having alcohol misuse (AUDIT-C ≥ 3 female (F)/4 male (M)) or having no/low use (AUDIT-C < 3F/4M). Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and crude and adjusted logistic regression models were estimated.

Participants with alcohol misuse reported more alcohol use, more frequent meat and salty snack intake, and higher frequency of feeling tense and panicked over the previous week than people with HIV having no/low use (P < .05). Higher alcohol use was associated with more meat and salty snack intake, more frequent vigorous PA, higher PA level, and more emotional distress (P < .05).

Overall, participants having alcohol misuse and those reporting higher alcohol use during the stay-at-home order reported less healthy dietary patterns and more emotional distress, while engaging in more PA, compared to participants with lower alcohol use. These data suggest that during health-related emergencies, consideration of patients' prior and current alcohol use is necessary when encouraging healthy behavioral patterns.