Formative Phase of Reducing Hazardous Alcohol Use & HIV Viral Load

Formative Phase of Reducing Hazardous Alcohol Use & HIV Viral Load: An RCT in ART Clinics in Vietnam

This study is the Formative Phase of a larger study; once this phase is completed, enrollment into the randomized controlled trial (RCT Phase) will begin. The primary objective of the Formative Phase is to gain a better understanding of the context in which drinking alcohol among ART client in Vietnam occurs, in order to culturally tailor the intervention to be tested in the RCT Phase. Formative Phase activities will consist of up to 40 in-depth interviews with hazardous drinkers who are either: a) ART clients in one of the ART clinics in Thai Nguyen, or b) who are people who inject drugs (PWID) that are not recruited from the ART clinics (whom we will refer to as general population PWID).

Inclusion Criteria:

• being 18-49 years of age;
• having an AUDIT score ≥ 8 (hazardous alcohol use);
• being a current ART client at one of the Thai Nguyen ART clinics or a general population PWID;
• being capable of providing voluntary informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• being unable to participate in study activities due to psychological disturbance, cognitive impairment or threatening behavior;
• currently participating in other HIV, drug use or alcohol studies.