Table 1.

Characteristics of (n = 5) included studies assessing the association between alcohol use and ART adherence among Black MSM in the U.S

First author, year	Location (Region)	Data collection method	Participants N total sample (N Black)	Measure of alcohol use	Measure of ART adherence	Main Findings: Association between alcohol use and ART adherence
Hightow-Weidman, 2017	North Carolina (South)	Survey	193	Past 3 months	Visual Analogue Scale (VAS): participants select a value ranging from 0–100% to indicate ART adherence Adherence cut point: ≥ 90% classified as adherent	79.3% reported alcohol use 70.8% reported ART adherence No significant association between alcohol use and adherence (Unadjusted POR [0.48, (0.20, 1.17); p = 0.11]
Dworkin, 2020	Chicago, Illinois (Midwest)	Electronic adherence monitoring (Wisepill) Interviews	40	Number of days per week alcohol is consumed	Number of ART doses missed in the past 4 days	60% reported drinking alcohol at least one day or more per week 53% reported ART adherence When ART adherence was defined as < 90, participants self-reported ART adherence ranged from 79 to 82% In the interviews, 1/32 participants reported missing a dose because they went out drinking
Voisin 2017	Chicago, Illinois (Midwest)	Survey	92	Daily or weekly alcohol use in past 3 months	Participants were asked to self-report what percent, from 0 to 100, did they took their medication as prescribed in the last 30 days Adherence cut point: ≥ 90% classified as adherent	67.4% reported daily or weekly alcohol use in the past 3 months 61.4–67.1% reported ART adherence in the past 30 days (baseline) Daily/weekly alcohol consumption in the past three months was not a predictor of high medication adherence among participants in Chicago OR [.150, (.037–.606); p < .01)
Mutchler, 2019	Los Angeles County, California (West)	Survey	209	Problem alcohol use measured via the Rapid Alcohol Screen Test	Participants were asked to estimate the percentage (range 0 to 100) of prescribed HIV medication that they took in the last month Adherence cut point: ≥ 85% classified as adherent	34.2% of all participants reported problem alcohol use; however, 36% of younger Black MSM (under 50) reporting problem alcohol use compared to 30% of older Black MSM (50 or older) 83.32% reported ART adherence [80.67% in younger sample (under 50); 87.87% in older sample (50 or older)] Problem alcohol use was a significant predictor of lower self-reported adherence among the younger sample bivariate: -16.71(4.26) (p < .001); multivariate: − 15.20 (6.40) (p < .05)
Jemmott, 2019	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (North)	Interviews	27		Participants discussed positive and negative behavioral, normative, and control beliefs associated with taking ART as prescribed	No percentage of alcohol use reported 75% reported ART adherence Negative behavioral beliefs surrounding the interference of alcohol consumption and medication adherence was listed as a factor in the individual’s decision to take, or not take ART as prescribed