461Alcohol use and anti-retroviral adherence among people living with HIV in ART centre of Nepal

Background Alcohol use is known to have higher prevalence among HIV infected individuals. Hazardous use of alcohol in many studies is negatively associated with the adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Use of alcohol and ART adherence among PLHIV is inadequately explored in Nepalese context. This study aimed at identifying the level of alcohol use and its relationship with adherence to ART among PLHIV. Methods A total of 205 PLHIV of age 18 years or more were randomly selected at a national ART centre of Nepal. Self-reported adherence questionnaire was used to get the level of adherence, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) with five questions was adopted for screening the hazardous alcohol use. Those who took more than 95% of the prescribed doses were considered as adherent. Results About 86% of the respondents were adherent to ART in four days recall. About one third of the respondents were alcohol user and 40% of them had hazardous use of alcohol. Those having hazardous use of alcohol were four times (AOR=4.60, 95% CI 1.27,16.62) more likely to be non-adherent as compared to those who had not hazardous use of alcohol. Multivariate analyses adjusted ethnicity, Knowledge on dangers of non-adherence, subjective feeling of own health, use of memory aid, IDU background, treatment substitution and depression category. Conclusion Hazardous use of alcohol was independently associated with non-adherence with the ART. Key message Screening at the start of the treatment and intervention targeting alcohol use may improve HIV outcomes in individuals with hazardous alcohol use.

Emotional Abuses of Slum Women by their Husbands in Kathmandu Valley

Emotional abuse is a hardest form of abuse to recognize and globally it is a major public health problem. This study aims to explore the associated factors among slum married women in Kathmandu valley. It has used primary data from slum areas of Kathmandu valley and this study confined with married women only. Result showed more than two fifth (42%) women’s husband get angry if their wives talked with another male members either they are relatives or friends. The percent of emotional abuse was high where respondents did not attend school (33%) than who attended school (21%). Uniquely, study found that all alcohol user husbands insulted their wife in front of others and threatened or made worried. Despite that whose husbands did not use alcohol, their wives were not fallen on any types of emotional abuse. Additionally, quarrelling habit of husbands is also leading factor of emotional abuse. Findings of this study demonstrated that several factors are associated with emotional abuse including alcohol use, education, and occupation and battering habit. On the other hand, non-use of alcohol, high level of education, skilled occupation, and non-battering habit could protect women against emotional abuse by their husband. Therefore, interventions should focus on these issues for both men and women.

Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of HBV Infection Among Alcohol Users Worldwide

Aims To investigate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among alcohol users. Methods A systematic search of articles in the PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE databases was conducted. The methodological quality of each study was scored, and a meta-analysis was performed taking into account the heterogeneity expected among the studies. Publication bias was assessed using Begg’s and Egger’s tests. Results The search identified 998 reports that yielded 18 eligible studies. The studies comprised 12,204 alcohol users, who were mostly men. The mean score on the quality evaluation was 6.9, and 11 studies were classified as having a low risk of bias. The estimated worldwide prevalence of HBV was 20.0% (95%CI: 19.0–20.0). The heterogeneity among the studies was substantial (I2 = 96.7%). In subgroup analyses, it was observed that among alcohol user dependents with no description of liver damage, alcohol users with different stages of chronic liver disease and alcohol users who all had cirrhosis, the estimated prevalence was 10.0% (95%CI: 8.0–14.0), 14.0% (95%CI: 13.0–15.0) and 32.0% (95%CI: 29.0–35.0), respectively. The meta-regression analysis showed that the study quality score had an influence on the investigated prevalence (P = 0.005). Nevertheless, the funnel plot showed asymmetry, and there was evidence of publication bias according to Egger’s test (P = 0.003) but not Begg’s test (P = 0.869). Conclusions The prevalence of HBV among alcohol users was high. HBV infection and alcohol consumption are factors affecting the development and worsening of liver disease; therefore, we suggest that adult alcohol users should be carefully monitored.