Personalized Cognitive Counseling Reduces Drinking Expectancy Among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Lima, Peru: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

R Colby Passaro,Matthew R Beymer,Francisco Nanclares,Angelica Castañeda-Huaripata,Jesse L Clark,Williams Gonzales-Saavedra,Eddy R Segura,James Dilley,Robinson Cabello,Susan Chávez-Gomez

doi:10.1007/s10461-020-02882-6

Abstract

Personalized cognitive counseling (PCC) is an evidence-based intervention designed to modify HIV-related risk behavior. We assessed the impact of PCC on sexual behavior, drinking expectancy, and incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a 6-month randomized controlled trial among 153 HIV-uninfected men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) in Peru. Study retention was ≥ 90%, with three HIV infections (3 Control) and 19 cases of GC/CT (10 Control, 9 PCC) at 6months. There was a decline in condomless receptive anal intercourse in the Control (0.74, 95% CI 0.60-0.91; p < 0.01) and PCC arms (0.72, 0.55-0.94; p = 0.02) at 6-month follow-up. There was a decrease in drinking expectancy at 6months among participants endorsing alcohol use in the PCC arm (0.89, 0.83-0.96; p < 0.01), versus no change in the Control arm (0.98, 0.92-1.04; p = 0.54). PCC was efficacious in reducing drinking expectancy and HIV risk among MSM and TW in Peru.

Highlights

ABSTRACT: (WORDS: 150; WORD LIMIT 150) Personalized cognitive counseling (PCC) is an evidence-based intervention designed to modify HIV-related risk behavior
Because substance use is disproportionately prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) worldwide [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21], and substantially increases the risk of HIV transmission when it occurs prior to or during sex [22,23,24], recent studies in the U.S have raised the possibility of adapting PCC to address sexual risk behavior fueled by alcohol and/or substance use [9]
While there were no significant differences in the prespecified primary outcomes of cRAI and persistent or recurrent rectal GC/CT infection at the 6-month follow-up visit, there were no new HIV infections identified among PCC participants at the six-month visit compared to three new HIV diagnoses in the Control arm

Summary

Introduction

ABSTRACT: (WORDS: 150; WORD LIMIT 150) Personalized cognitive counseling (PCC) is an evidence-based intervention designed to modify HIV-related risk behavior. Mean DEQ-MSM scores were higher among participants who reported substance use prior to sex in both arms (2.90 vs 2.36, p

Results

Conclusion