Introduction:

Treatment adherence is worse in injecting drugs users (IDU); the effect of non-injected drug use (NIDU) has not been evaluated. The objective is to study the relationship between NIDU, treatment initiation and adherence in the CoRIS in Spain.

Material and Method:

CoRIS is the spanish cohort of HIV patient treatment naïve. An adapted questionnaire was used. Univariate and bivariate analysis were performed for substance use and the relation with the commencement of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and adherence. To compare groups, we used the chi-square statistic for categorical variables and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for numerical variables.

Results:

459 patients answered the questionnaire: 79% male with mean age 42.  Most used substances: alcohol (79% males, 49% females), tobacco (45% males, 52% females), cannabis (47% males, 18% females), cocaine (37% male, 19% female),  synthetic drugs (24% male, 10% female), popper (38% male), tranquilizers (19% male, 24% female) and heroine ( 11% male). Regarding treatment, 62% male and 79% female were receiving ART. NIDU receive ART less frequently (p=0.036) than non-drug-users (36% vs 78%). Time to ART initiation was longer (p=0.034) in users (NIDU) than in non-drug users (32 months vs 17 months). 34% male and 36% female NIDU don’t adhere to treatment.

Conclusions:

 Non-injectable drugs use in the CoRIS is higher in male. NIDU initiate treatment later than non-drug users.  NIDU in both genders have a low adherence to ART. Promoting health actions based on gender approach should be programed in order to minimize the initiate time and enhance adherence in the group.