Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of HAART-exposed crack cocaine users in Vancouver, Canada, stratified by optimal pharmacy refill adherence (n = 438)
| Characteristic | Total (n = 438) n (%) |
≥95 % pharmacy refill adherence for antiretroviralsa | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes 240 (54.8 %) |
No 198 (45.2 %) |
|||
| Age (median, IQR) | 44 (38–49) | 45 (40–51) | 42 (37–46) | <0.001 |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 293 (66.9 %) | 171 (71.3 %) | 122 (61.6 %) | 0.033 |
| Female | 145 (33.1 %) | 69 (28.7 %) | 76 (38.4 %) | reference |
| Ancestry | ||||
| Caucasian | 239 (54.6 %) | 147 (61.3 %) | 92 (46.5 %) | 0.002 |
| Non-Caucasian | 199 (45.4 %) | 93 (38.7 %) | 106 (53.5 %) | reference |
| Education | ||||
| < Secondary education | 228 (52.1 %) | 116 (48.3 %) | 112 (56.6 %) | 0.069 |
| ≥ Secondary education | 196 (44.7 %) | 117 (48.8 %) | 79 (39.9 %) | reference |
| Homelessa | ||||
| Yes | 129 (29.5 %) | 57 (23.8 %) | 72 (36.4 %) | 0.003 |
| No | 306 (69.9 %) | 182 (75.8 %) | 124 (62.6 %) | reference |
| Crack cocaine smokinga | ||||
| ≥ Daily | 175 (40.0 %) | 78 (32.5 %) | 97 (49.0 %) | 0.001 |
| < Daily | 263 (60.0 %) | 162 (67.5 %) | 101 (51.0 %) | reference |
| Heroin usea | ||||
| ≥ Daily | 48 (11.0 %) | 19 (7.9 %) | 29 (14.7 %) | 0.024 |
| < Daily | 389 (88.8 %) | 221 (92.1 %) | 168 (84.9 %) | reference |
| Crystal methamphetamine usea,c | ||||
| ≥ Daily | 9 (2.1 %) | 5 (2.1 %) | 4 (2.0 %) | 1.000 |
| < Daily | 428 (97.7 %) | 235 (97.9 %) | 193 (97.5 %) | reference |
| Heavy alcohol use (≥5 drinks per day)a,c | ||||
| Yes | 13 (3.0 %) | 5 (2.1 %) | 8 (4.0 %) | 0.266 |
| No | 425 (97.0 %) | 235 (97.9 %) | 190 (96.0 %) | reference |
| Engagement in sex work or drug dealinga | ||||
| Yes | 164 (37.4 %) | 78 (32.5 %) | 86 (43.4 %) | 0.018 |
| No | 270 (61.6 %) | 160 (66.7 %) | 110 (55.6 %) | reference |
| Incarcerationa | ||||
| Yes | 58 (13.2 %) | 32 (13.3 %) | 26 (13.1 %) | 0.951 |
| No | 380 (86.8 %) | 208 (86.7 %) | 172 (86.9 %) | reference |
| HIV physician experienceb | ||||
| Previously treated <6 patients | 48 (11.0 %) | 25 (10.4 %) | 23 (11.6 %) | 0.397 |
| Previously treated ≥6 patients | 340 (77.6 %) | 199 (82.9 %) | 141 (71.2 %) | reference |
| CD4 cell counta (median, IQR) | 300 (180–450) | 340 (223.5–495) | 235 (120–360) | <0.001 |
| Years since HAART initiationa (median, IQR) | 5.7 (2.2–8.5) | 4.9 (1.6–8.0) | 6.9 (3.2–8.8) | <0.001 |
| Regimenb | ||||
| Single tablet per day | 34 (7.8 %) | 24 (10.0 %) | 10 (5.1 %) | 0.278 |
| 2-3 tablets per day | 121 (27.6 %) | 76 (31.7 %) | 45 (22.7 %) | 0.723 |
| > 3 tablets per day | 230 (52.5 %) | 140 (58.3 %) | 90 (45.5 %) | reference |
| Participation in inpatient addiction treatmenta | ||||
| Yes | 35 (8.0 %) | 19 (7.9 %) | 16 (8.1 %) | 0.950 |
| No | 403 (92.0 %) | 221 (92.1 %) | 182 (91.9 %) | reference |
| Participation in outpatient detoxification or other outpatient addiction treatmenta,c | ||||
| Yes | 5 (1.1 %) | 4 (1.7 %) | 1 (0.5 %) | 0.384 |
| No | 433 (98.9 %) | 236 (98.3 %) | 197 (99.5 %) | reference |
| Seeing drug counsellors or participation in addiction-related peer support meetingsa | ||||
| Yes | 43 (9.8 %) | 31 (12.9 %) | 12 (6.1 %) | 0.016 |
| No | 395 (90.2 %) | 209 (87.1 %) | 186 (93.9 %) | reference |
| Restricted to dual crack cocaine and opioid users (n = 293) | ||||
| Participation in opioid substitution therapiesa | ||||
| Yes | 186 (63.5 %) | 115 (70.6 %) | 71 (54.6 %) | 0.005 |
| No | 107 (36.5 %) | 48 (29.4 %) | 59 (45.4 %) | reference |
HAART highly active antiretroviral therapy, CI confidence interval, IQR interquartile range
a denotes activities/events in the past 6 months
b denotes at the time of antiretroviral therapy initiation
c p-values were derived from Fisher’s exact test
Not all cells added up to 100 % due to some missing values