Reductions in drug use among young people living with HIV.

ZIP models were used to detect reductions in drug abuse among young people living with HIV (YPLH) over 15 months when most young people abstain from use. YPLH (n = 171) aged 16 to 29 years were randomly assigned to an 18 session intervention or a delayed-intervention condition. The ZIP models showed significant reductions in abuse of multiple substances over time in the non-delayed intervention. Previous analyses did not find significant reductions. Intervention efficacy often cannot be detected if there are highly skewed distributions of outcomes, such as drug abuse. ZIP modeling offers an opportunity to more reliably detect behavioral changes.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes