Trial reportJournal of the International AIDS Society2023
Effect of a brief alcohol counselling intervention on HIV viral suppression and alcohol use among persons with HIV and unhealthy alcohol use in Uganda and Kenya: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04810650 (A Multisectoral Strategy to Address Persistent Drivers of the HIV Epidemic in East Africa), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Multisectoral Strategy to Address Persistent Drivers of the HIV Epidemic in East Africa
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- A pilot randomized controlled trial of Kisoboka, a behavioral economic and motivational interviewing intervention to reduce high-risk alcohol use and improve antiretroviral therapy adherence for men in Uganda.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Trial
- Machine learning to optimize precision in the analysis of randomized trials: A journey in pre-specified, yet data-adaptive learning.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2026Article
- High Prevalence of Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among Persons with HIV, Viral Non-suppression and Any Alcohol Use in Mbarara, Uganda: A Brief Report.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Article
- Alcohol Use Disorder in Southwestern and Northern Uganda: Prevalence and associated factors.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Alcohol interventions for persons with HIV: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials using phosphatidylethanol and self-report.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Article
- Alcohol Consumption Among Persons Living with HIV: Perceptions, Messages and Interventions-A Qualitative Study at an HIV Treatment Clinic in South Western Uganda.AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionUnhealthy alcohol use significantly contributes to viral non-suppression among persons with HIV (PWH). It is unknown whether brief behavioural interventions to reduce alcohol use can improve viral suppression among PWH with unhealthy alcohol use in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
methodsAs part of the SEARCH study (NCT04810650), we conducted an individually randomized trial in Kenya and Uganda of a brief, skills-based alcohol intervention among PWH with self-reported unhealthy alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption [AUDIT-C], prior 3 months, ≥3/female; ≥4/male) and at risk of viral non-suppression, defined as either recent HIV viral non-suppression (≥400 copies/ml), missed visits, out of care or new diagnosis. The intervention included baseline and 3-month in-person counselling sessions with interim booster phone calls every 3 weeks. The primary outcome was HIV viral suppression (<400 copies/ml) at 24 weeks, and the secondary outcome was unhealthy alcohol use, defined by AUDIT-C or phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an alcohol biomarker, ≥50 ng/ml at 24 weeks.
resultsBetween April and September 2021, 401 persons (198 intervention, 203 control) were enrolled from HIV clinics in Uganda (58%) and Kenya (27%) and alcohol-serving venues in Kenya (15%). At baseline, 60% were virally suppressed. Viral suppression did not differ between arms at 24 weeks: suppression was 83% in intervention and 82% in control arms (RR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.93-1.1). Among PWH with baseline viral non-suppression, 24-week suppression was 73% in intervention and 64% in control arms (RR 1.15, 95% CI: 0.93-1.43). Unhealthy alcohol use declined from 98% at baseline to 73% in intervention and 84% in control arms at 24 weeks (RR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.79-0.94). Effects on unhealthy alcohol use were stronger among women (RR 0.70, 95% CI: 0.56-0.88) than men (RR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.85-1.01) and among participants with a baseline PEth⩽200 ng/ml (RR 0.68, 95% CI: 0.53-0.87) versus >200 ng/ml (RR 0.97, 95% CI: 0.92-1.02).
conclusionsIn a randomized trial of 401 PWH with unhealthy alcohol use and risk for viral non-suppression, a brief alcohol intervention reduced unhealthy alcohol use but did not affect viral suppression at 24 weeks. Brief alcohol interventions have the potential to improve the health of PWH in SSA by reducing alcohol use, a significant driver of HIV-associated co-morbidities.
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