Capsule Commentary on Satre et al., “Interventions to Reduce Unhealthy Alcohol Use among Primary Care Patients with HIV: the Health and Motivation Randomized Clinical Trial”

Excerpt

A total of 614 adult HIV-positive patients in Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco, who reported prior year unhealthy alcohol use were randomized to receive either 3 sessions of (a) motivational interviewing (MI), (b) information regarding alcohol risks by emailed feedback (EF) through an EHR patient portal, or (c) usual care (UC), which included Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment.¹ The interventions were carried out by behavioral health specialists embedded in the primary care clinics. At 12 months all three arms reported declines in unhealthy alcohol use and alcohol related problems, with no significant differences between the groups. There were also no differences in antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence between the groups. At 6 months, there was less-reported illegal drug use/misuse of prescription drugs other than marijuana in the MI arm than in either EF or UC. There was less unhealthy drinking in persons who reported low motivation to reduce drinking at baseline in those that received MI. …