Background

Reducing substance use and unprotected sex by HIV-positive persons improves individual health status while decreasing the risk of HIV transmission. Despite recommendations that health care providers screen and counsel their HIV-positive patients for ongoing behavioral risks, it is unknown how to best provide "prevention with positives" in clinical settings. Positive Choice, an interactive, patient-tailored computer program, was developed in the United States to improve clinic-based assessment and counseling for risky behaviors.

Methodology and findings

We conducted a parallel groups randomized controlled trial (December 2003-September 2006) at 5 San Francisco area outpatient HIV clinics. Eligible patients (HIV-positive English-speaking adults) completed an in-depth computerized risk assessment. Participants reporting substance use or sexual risks (n = 476) were randomized in stratified blocks. The intervention group received tailored risk-reduction counseling from a "Video Doctor" via laptop computer and a printed Educational Worksheet; providers received a Cueing Sheet on reported risks. Compared with control, fewer intervention participants reported continuing illicit drug use (RR 0.81, 95% CI: 0.689, 0.957, p = 0.014 at 3 months; and RR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.540, 0.785, p<0.001 at 6 months) and unprotected sex (RR 0.88, 95% CI: 0.773, 0.993, p = 0.039 at 3 months; and RR 0.80, 95% CI: 0.686, 0.941, p = 0.007 at 6 months). Intervention participants reported fewer mean days of ongoing illicit drug use (-4.0 days vs. -1.3 days, p = 0.346, at 3 months; and -4.7 days vs. -0.7 days, p = 0.130, at 6 months) than did controls, and had fewer casual sex partners at (-2.3 vs. -1.4, p = 0.461, at 3 months; and -2.7 vs. -0.6, p = 0.042, at 6 months).

Conclusions

The Positive Choice intervention achieved significant cessation of illicit drug use and unprotected sex at the group-level, and modest individual-level reductions in days of ongoing drug use and number of casual sex partners compared with the control group. Positive Choice, including Video Doctor counseling, is an efficacious and appropriate adjunct to risk-reduction efforts in outpatient settings, and holds promise as a public health HIV intervention.

Trial registration

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00447707.

Purpose

To quantify the prevalence of social and behavioral sciences (SBS) topics during patient care and to rate team response to these topics once introduced.

Method

This cross-sectional study used five independent raters to observe 80 inpatient ward teams on internal medicine and pediatric services during attending rounds at two academic hospitals over a five-month period. Patient-level primary outcomes-prevalence of SBS topic discussions and rate of positive responses to discussions-were captured using an observational tool and summarized at the team level using hierarchical models. Teams were scored on patient- and learner-centered behaviors.

Results

Observations were made of 80 attendings, 83 residents, 75 interns, 78 medical students, and 113 allied health providers. Teams saw a median of 8.0 patients per round (collectively, 622 patients), and 97.1% had at least one SBS topic arise (mean = 5.3 topics per patient). Common topics were pain (62%), nutrition (53%), social support (52%), and resources (39%). After adjusting for team characteristics, the number of discussion topics raised varied significantly among the four services and was associated with greater patient-centeredness. When topics were raised, 38% of teams' responses were positive. Services varied with respect to learner- and patient-centeredness, with most services above average for learner-centered, and below average for patient-centered behaviors.

Conclusions

Of 30 SBS topics tracked, some were addressed commonly and others rarely. Multivariable analyses suggest that medium-sized teams can address SBS concerns by increasing time per patient and consistently adopting patient-centered behaviors.