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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Oct;30(10):1252-1256.
doi: 10.1080/09540121.2018.1455961. Epub 2018 Apr 1.

Syndemic effect of mental illness and substance use on viral suppression among recently-incarcerated, HIV-infected individuals in the CARE+ Corrections study

Hannah Yellin  1 , Curt Beckwith  2   3 , Ann Kurth  4 , Tao Liu  5 , Breana Castonguay  1 , Rudy Patrick  1 , Claudia Trezza  1 , Lauri Bazerman  2 , Irene Kuo  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Syndemic effect of mental illness and substance use on viral suppression among recently-incarcerated, HIV-infected individuals in the CARE+ Corrections study

Hannah Yellin et al. AIDS Care. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Few studies on HIV-related syndemics of co-occurring and mutually reinforcing psychosocial conditions have assessed clinical outcomes in criminal justice (CJ)-involved populations. Baseline data from the CARE+ Corrections study were used to quantify co-occurring mental illness and substance use and examine syndemic effects on viral suppression among 106 CJ-involved HIV-infected individuals. Ninety-one (86%) reported a mental illness diagnosis, 30 (28%) reported hazardous alcohol use, and 61 (58%) were drug dependent. Eighteen (17%) experienced all three conditions. Drug dependence was clustered with mental illness (prevalence odds ratio [POR] 3.20, 95% CI 1.01-10.14) and hazardous alcohol use (POR 2.61, 95% CI 1.03-6.56). The association between syndemic score, representing the number of conditions reported by each individual, and viral suppression was not statistically significant, although 86% of participants with none of these conditions were virally suppressed, compared to 56% of those with all three (p = 0.56). Mental illness and substance use were concentrated in this sample, indicating a need for integrated care services.

Keywords: Criminal justice system; HIV; mental illness; substance use; syndemics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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