Extended-release naltrexone reduces alcohol consumption among released prisoners with HIV disease as they transition to the community.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are highly prevalent among persons living with HIV (PLH) within the criminal justice system (CJS). Extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) has not been previously evaluated among CJS-involved PLH with AUDs.


METHODS
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted among 100 HIV+ prisoners with AUDs. Participants were randomized 2:1 to receive 6 monthly injections of XR-NTX or placebo starting one week prior to release. Using multiple imputation strategies for data missing completely at random, data were analyzed for the 6-month post-incarceration period. Main outcomes included: time to first heavy drinking day; number of standardized drinks/drinking day; percent of heavy drinking days; pre- to post-incarceration change in average drinks/day; total number of drinking days; and a composite alcohol improvement score comprised of all 5 parameters.


RESULTS
There was no statistically significant difference overall between treatment arms for time-to-heavy-drinking day. However, participants aged 20-29 years who received XR-NTX had a longer time to first heavy drinking day compared to the placebo group (24.1 vs. 9.5days; p<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between groups for other individual drinking outcomes. A sub-analysis, however, found participants who received ≥4 XR-NTX were more likely (p<0.005) to have improved composite alcohol scores than the placebo group. Post-hoc power analysis revealed that despite the study being powered for HIV outcomes, sufficient power (0.94) was available to distinguish the observed differences.


CONCLUSIONS
Among CJS-involved PLH with AUDs transitioning to the community, XR-NTX lengthens the time to heavy drinking day for younger persons; reduces alcohol consumption when using a composite alcohol consumption score; and is not associated with any serious adverse events.
['Springer|Sandra A|SA|', 'Di Paola|Angela|A|', 'Azar|Marwan M|MM|', 'Barbour|Russell|R|', 'Krishnan|Archana|A|', 'Altice|Frederick L|FL|']
D000328:Adult D000428:Alcohol Drinking D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations D004311:Double-Blind Method D005260:Female D015658:HIV Infections D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009271:Naltrexone D009292:Narcotic Antagonists D011329:Prisoners D016896:Treatment Outcome D055815:Young Adult
Extended-release naltrexone Prisoners HIV Alcohol Use Disorder Hazardous drinking Randomized controlled trial