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Social Support, Disclosure, and Use of Antiretroviral Therapy

  • HIV Treatment Research Article
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This paper investigates the association between social support, disclosure of HIV/AIDS, and odds of initiating combination antiretroviral drug therapy in its first years on the market. Data are drawn from the first three rounds of the Community Health Advisory and Information Network (CHAIN) survey, collected between 1994 and 1997. CHAIN documents service needs and rates of service utilization among a representative sample of persons with HIV/AIDS in New York City. A two-step logistic regression estimated associations between (1) perceived social support and use of combination antiretroviral therapy, and (2) the interaction between concealing HIV/AIDS and perceived social support. Results offered evidence that the positive association between social support and use of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) and other combination antiretroviral therapies is contingent upon disclosure of HIV status within the household or among friend and acquaintance networks. A positive association between social support and odds of using combination therapy was only observed among those who disclosed their HIV status.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by grant number H89 HA 0015-12 from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau with the support of the HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council, through the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc. (MHRA). While working on this project, the first author was supported as a postdoctoral fellow in the Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research Program sponsored by Medical and Health Association of New York City, Inc. and the National Development and Research Institutes (NDRI) with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (5T32 DA07233). Points of view, opinions, and conclusions in this paper do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Government, Medical and Health Association of New York City, National Development and Research Institutes, or the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Elizabeth Needham Waddell

  2. Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Peter A. Messeri

  3. 2 Lafayette St., 18th Floor, New York, 10007, NY, USA

    Elizabeth Needham Waddell

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  1. Elizabeth Needham Waddell
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  2. Peter A. Messeri
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Correspondence to Elizabeth Needham Waddell.

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Waddell, E.N., Messeri, P.A. Social Support, Disclosure, and Use of Antiretroviral Therapy. AIDS Behav 10, 263–272 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-005-9042-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-005-9042-x

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