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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing
3039.0: Monday, November 05, 2007 - 8:30 AM

Abstract #154132

Positive Choice: A "video doctor" intervention reduces risky behaviors by HIV-positive adults

Paul A. Gilbert, MSPH1, Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH2, Stuart A. Gansky, MS, DrPH3, Sophia H. Calderon, BA1, and Barbara Gerbert, PhD1. (1) Center for Health Improvement and Prevention Studies, University of California San Francisco, 350 Parnassus Avenue, Suite 905, San Francisco, CA 94117, 415-502-7288, paul.gilbert@ucsf.edu, (2) Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, 3180 18th Street, Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94110, (3) Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St, Ste 495, San Francisco, CA 94143-1361

Background: Improved HIV treatments have decreased mortality and changed patterns of morbidity. Accordingly, prevention strategies have shifted to recognize the role of HIV-positive persons. Practice guidelines now recommend that HIV care providers screen and counsel their patients about behavioral risks, but consistent implementation of these guidelines is rare.

Methods: We developed the Positive Choice computer program to improve screening and counseling about substance use and unprotected sex by HIV-positive adults. Positive Choice consisted of computerized risk-assessment followed by an interactive and engaging “video doctor,” simulating an ideal conversation with a health care provider. We tested its effectiveness in a randomized, controlled trial at five outpatient HIV clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Results: Between December 2003 and February 2006, 918 patients completed a baseline risk assessment; 497 (54%) reported one or more risky behaviors; over 80% completed six-month follow-ups. Fewer intervention than control participants reported unprotected sex with casual partners at 3-month follow-up (OR 0.313, 95% CI: 0.102, 0.950); any drug use at both 3- and 6-month follow-ups (OR 0.356, 95% CI: 0.180, 0.703; and OR 0.207, 95% CI: 0.101, 0.424); methamphetamine use at both 3- and 6-month follow-ups (OR 0.285, 95% CI: 0.097, 0.841; and OR 0.344, 95% CI: 0.128, 0.922); and heavy drinking at 3-month follow-up (OR 0.310, 95% CI: 0.119, 0.808).

Conclusions: Positive Choice achieved significant reductions in drug use, including methamphetamine, and some reductions in heavy drinking and unprotected sex. Positive Choice is an efficacious and appropriate adjunct to risk-reduction efforts in HIV care.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Behavioral Research, Risk Assessment

Related Web page: www.ucsf.edu/chips

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Innovative HIV Interventions among Vulnerable Populations

The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA