LAUSR

Alcohol use has a deleterious effect on the health status of persons living with HIV, negatively affecting antiretroviral adherence and increasing the risk of transmission. Alcohol use is not an isolated behavior but intimately linked to stigma and poor psychological status among other factors. This paper utilizes a crossover design to test the efficacy of three multilevel interventions, individual counselling (IC), group intervention (GI) and collective advocacy (CA) for change, among HIV positive males who consume alcohol, treated at five ART Centers in urban Maharashtra, India. While GI shows a significant effect on the largest number of outcome variables, IC through its psychosocial emphasis demonstrated a significant impact over time on stigma and depression, and CA with its emphasis on societal change showed positive impact on stigma and advocacy for self and others. Each of the interventions had variable effects on CD4 count and viral load. Clinical Registration Number: NCT03746457; Clinical Trial.Gov