OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work was to make a systematic review of the literature, using the MedLine data basis, about the alcohol usage/abuse/dependence as a risk factor to the adherence reduction, the viral load reduction or even a worse clinical outcome in HIV patients in the usage of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). METHOD: It was made a systematic research in the MedLine data basis using the words: "HAART", "adherence" and "alcohol" with the purpose of finding articles about the themes: evaluations or association between the alcohol usage/abuse/dependence and adherence/suppression of the viral load/clinical outcome in HIV patients in the usage of antiretroviral therapy. RESULTS: The search found 65 articles. However, only 21 of this achieved the pre-established criteria and have been selected. It was found a positive association among the usage/abuse/dependence of the alcohol and the low adherence/low viral load suppression/worse clinical outcome in 18 (85,7%) of the articles. CONCLUSION: We could conclude that the alcohol usage/abuse/dependence is a risk factor to the low adherence/low viral load suppression/worse clinical outcome in HIV patients in the usage of HAART.
Alcohol; adherence; HAART; AIDS
