Effectiveness of interventions to improve healthcare workers’ skill to increase the uptake of Methadone and ARV treatment services for of people living with HIV who use drugs in 4 Vietnamese northern provinces, 2018 - 2019

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of interventions to improve healthcare workers’ skill to increase the uptake of Methadone and ARV treatment services for of people living with HIV who use drugs in 4 Vietnamese northern provinces, 2018-2019 using a randomized controlled trial design. There were 60 communities in Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, and Nghe An with the largest number of PLHWUD randomly assigned to intervention and control groups, with 241 people who were not on combined treatment at the beginning of the study. We used a generalized estimating equation approach to analyze. The rate of ARV and MMT utilization by PLHWUD increased over time. Longer evaluation time (12 months, OR: 2.22; 95%CI: 1.38 - 3.59) and drug use for more than 10 years (OR: 7.64; 95%CI: 1.83 - 31.96) were significantly associated with increased use of MMT. Living with others (OR: 3.56; 95%CI: 1.98 - 6.40) and HIV infection (OR: 2.23; 95%CI: 1.13 - 4.37) were significantly associated with higher ARV utilization. The study did not find the effectiveness of interventions to increase the rate of using MMT and ARV treatment services in PLHWUD. It is necessary to continue follow-ups to see long-term effects and to consider other factors which may influence study outcomes.