People with HIV in HAART-Era Russia: Transmission Risk Behavior Prevalence, Antiretroviral Medication-Taking, and Psychosocial Distress

Russia has seen one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. Transmission risk behavior, HAART-taking, and psychosocial distress of the growing population of Russian people living with HIV (PLH) in the HAART era are understudied. Participants of a systematically-recruited cross-sectional sample of 492 PLH in St. Petersburg completed measures of sexual and drug injection practices, adherence, perceived discrimination, and psychosocial distress. Since learning of their status, 58% of participants had partners of HIV-negative or unknown serostatus (mean = 5.8). About 52% reported unprotected intercourse with such partners, with 30% of acts unprotected. Greater perceived discrimination predicted lower condom use. A 47% of IDU PLH still shared needles, predicted by having no primary partner, lower education, and more frequently-encountered discrimination. Twenty-five percentage of PLH had been refused general health care, 11% refused employment, 7% fired, and 6% forced from family homes. Thirty-nine percentage of participants had probable clinical depression, 37% had anxiety levels comparable to psychiatric inpatients, and social support was low. Of the 54% of PLH who were offered HAART, 16% refused HAART regimens, and 5% of those on the therapy took less than 90% of their doses. Comprehensive community services for Russian PLH are needed to reduce AIDS-related psychosocial distress and continued HIV transmission risk behaviors. Social programs should reduce stigma and discrimination, and promote social integration of affected persons and their families.