The relationships of HIV status and HIV risky behavior with readiness for treatment

We investigated the associations of self-reported HIV status and risky injection practices with dependent variables measuring readiness and motivation for treatment and depression among 550 clients at two residential drug abuse treatment programs. The results suggest that a positive HIV status may be associated with motivation for treatment independently of and more strongly than risky behavior. In multivariable analyses, HIV status was associated with a scale measuring cons of drug use (P = 0.006). Risky behavior was associated with the dependent variables only in univariate analyses. The univariate association between risky behavior and depression was confounded by social desirability bias. Further research is needed to determine whether HIV-related variables predict retention or outcome of treatment.