The prevalence and patterns of substance use by birth cohort among HIV-positive adults in Florida.
OBJECTIVES
Antiretroviral therapy is affording longer lifespans for people living with HIV (PLWH), yet factors such as substance use play an increasing role in morbidity and mortality in this population. Though previous studies have examined substance use differences between age cohorts of PLWH, no study has examined the influence of birth cohort on current substance use patterns. Thus, this study investigated the prevalence of past 12-month self-reported substance use between four birth cohorts, <1970 (M age = 54.1), 1970s (M age = 41.5), 1980s (M age = 31.3 years old), and 1990s (M age = 23.2 years old) of PLWH in Florida.


METHODS
PLWH (N = 934) recruited from community health clinics in Florida completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographics, health status, and substance use. Multivariate logistic regressions utilizing the <1970 cohort as the referent group examined the relationship between birth cohort and substance use.


RESULTS
The 1980s cohort had significantly greater odds of marijuana use compared to the oldest cohort (<1970s), while the three younger cohorts (1970s, 1980s, and 1990s) evidenced a significantly greater odds of ecstasy use compared to the oldest group. Contrastingly, the three younger birth cohorts reported significantly less crack use than the oldest cohort, while the youngest group (1990s) also demonstrated an 80% reduction in injection drug use compared to the oldest group.


CONCLUSION
The older cohort evidenced significantly greater crack and injection drug use, while the younger cohorts evidenced greater marijuana and ecstasy use. Therefore, it is important to develop age-specific substance use interventions among PLWH.
['Mannes|Zachary L|ZL|', 'Bryant|Vaughn E|VE|', 'Burrell|Larry E|LE|', 'Lu|Huiyin|H|', 'Ferguson|Erin G|EG|', 'Zhou|Zhi|Z|', 'Cook|Robert L|RL|', 'Ennis|Nicole|N|']
D000328:Adult D000367:Age Factors D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders D015897:Comorbidity D005260:Female D005431:Florida D015658:HIV Infections D006801:Humans D008297:Male D000074609:Marijuana Use D008875:Middle Aged D015995:Prevalence D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous D019966:Substance-Related Disorders D055815:Young Adult
substance use HIV aging interventions health policy