Gender and alcohol use: influences on HIV care continuum in a national cohort of patients with HIV

OBJECTIVES:To investigate whether gender is associated with three recommended stages of the HIV care continuum and whether gender modifies known associations between level of alcohol use and HIV care among US veterans. DESIGN:Retrospective cohort. METHODS:Veterans Aging Cohort Study data were used to identify Veterans Health Administration (VA) patients with HIV and AUDIT-C alcohol screening 2/1/2008–9/30/2014. Modified Poisson regression models estimated the relative risk and predicted prevalences of engagement in HIV care (documented CD4 cells/μl or viral load copies/mL lab values), ART treatment (≥1 prescription), and viral suppression (HIV RNA