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HIV Med. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 November 01. Published in final edited form as: HIV Med. 2016 November ; 17(10): 728–739. doi:10.1111/hiv.12377.
The Impact of Prescribed Opioids on CD4 Cell Count Recovery among HIV-Infected Patients Newly Initiating Antiretroviral Therapy
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E. Jennifer Edelman1,2, Kirsha S. Gordon3, Janet P. Tate1,3, William C. Becker1,3, Kendall Bryant4, Kristina Crothers5, Julie R. Gaither1,3,6, Cynthia L. Gibert7, Adam J. Gordon8, Brandon DL. Marshall9, Maria C. Rodriguez-Barradas10, Jeffrey H. Samet11, Melissa Skanderson3, Amy C. Justice1,2,3, and David A. Fiellin1,2 1Yale
University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
2Center
for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT
3VA
Connecticut Health Care System, West Haven, CT
4National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, HIV/AIDS Program, Bethesda, MD
5University 6Yale
of Washington, Seattle, WA
University School of Public Health, New Haven, New Haven, CT
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7DC
VAMC and George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
8VA
Pittsburgh Healthcare System and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
9Brown
University School of Public Health, Providence, RI
10Michael 11Boston
E. DeBakey VAMC and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Boston, MA
Abstract Objectives—Certain prescribed opioids have immunosuppressive properties, yet their impact on clinically relevant outcomes, including antiretroviral therapy (ART) response among HIV-infected patients, remains understudied.
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Methods—Using the Veterans Aging Cohort Study data, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of 4,358 HIV-infected patients initiating ART between 2002 and 2010 and then followed them for 24 months. The primary independent variable was prescribed opioid duration, categorized using pharmacy data as none prescribed, short-term (