Effect of a Hepatitis C Virus Educational Intervention or a Motivational Intervention on Alcohol Use, Injection Drug Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Injection Drug Users

Researchers in the current study compared the effects of two interventions on alcohol use: using a new syringe at last injection, and using a condom at last sexual encounter in a community sample of injection drug users (IDUs).

Street outreach was used to recruit 851 out-of-treatment IDUs in two North Carolina cities -- Raleigh and Durham -- between 2003 and 2006. The IDUs were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: either a six-session educational intervention or a six-session motivational intervention. Effects of the interventions were examined at six and 12 months after enrollment.

In multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for baseline alcohol use and hepatitis C virus status, participants assigned to the motivational intervention were found to be significantly less likely to be drinking at the six-month follow-up (odds ratio=0.67; 95 percent confidence interval=0.46, 0.97) than participants in the educational intervention. No significant differences were noted at either follow-up between the groups in the use of a new syringe at last injection or the use of a condom at last sexual encounter.

"Reducing alcohol use among persons with HCV may slow disease progression and provide important health benefits," the authors concluded. "Additional strategies are needed for slowing HCV disease progression until more effective HCV treatments are available."

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