Alcohol Use Disorders among HIV and AIDS Patients at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Comprehensive Care Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Alcohol has particularly harmful health effects in HIV-infected patients; therefore, HIV clinics are an important setting for integration of routine alcohol screening as an integral component of HIV care.In sub-Sahara Africa, little is known about AUDs among people attending HIV services. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of alcohol use disorder in patients attending CCC at KNH Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study Setting: Comprehensive Care Center, Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya carried out in the months of August to October 2014. Method: Two hundred and seventy three participants were recruited for this study and interviewed about their socio-demographic characteristics. The World Health Organization’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Tool (AUDIT) was used to measure probable hazardous, harmful and dependent use of alcohol (‘alcohol use disorders’). Associations between AUDs and other variables were explored using logistic regression analysis. All variables associated with AUDs with a value <0.05 were included in the final multivariable model. Results: The overall prevalence of AUD was 14% (38) broken as follows; 5.5% (15) had Hazardous/harmful drinking behavior with a cut off score of ≥8 or more. Those dependent on alcohol were 8.5% (23), with AUDIT score cut off point of ≥13 or more for women, ≥15 or more for men. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that men are more vulnerable to AUDs and need special services to address the problem. The high prevalence of AUDs detected in our study highlights the need to integrate routine alcohol screening, AUD treatment and rehabilitation as part of HIV/AIDS intervention practices to better address alcohol use disorders in patients attending HIV/AIDs comprehensiveCare.