Title of the article: Cigarette smoking and its association with hiv viral load among HIV-positive opioid users in Vietnam

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the smoking prevalence and explore the association between smoking and viral load among people living with HIV who are drug users (HIV+ PWID) in Vietnam. We used secondary data from a descriptive cross-sectional study of 280 HIV+ PWID in an open-label, non-inferiority trial from July 2015 to February 2018 at six HIV clinics in Northern Vietnam. The results showed that 82.1% of the participants reported daily smoking, and among them, 53.5% were classified as heavy smokers. After controlling for confounding factors, using non-smokers as the reference group, we found no association between cigarette smoking and HIV viral load. However, the study also revealed a large number of patients with co-infections such as HBV, HCV, TB, STIs (81.3%), and over half of the patients (51.4%) reported depression ranging from mild to severe. Considering the adverse health effects of smoking, it is crucial to integrate tobacco cessation programs and specialized treatments for other health issues in this key population. More longitudinal studies are needed to better understand this relationship.