# Community and Interpersonal Stress, Alcohol, and Chronic Comorbidities among PLWH

> **NIH NIH P60** · LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER · 2022 · $101,328

## Abstract

Abstract LSUHSC CARC Research Component 1:
Community and Interpersonal Stress, Alcohol, and Chronic Comorbidities among PLWH
Aging persons living with HIV (PLWH) are a vulnerable population at higher risk for chronic illnesses and geriatric
syndromes (i.e., metabolic alterations, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, renal disease, and
osteoporosis). Higher levels of both psychosocial and physiological stress among PLWH have also been
associated with poorer immune status, increased viral load over time, faster disease progression, and higher
rates of mortality. Comorbid conditions in PLWH can be further exacerbated by at-risk alcohol use; and PLWH
are two to three times more at risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD). There is a critical need for a deeper
understanding of the roles that social determinants at the community and interpersonal levels play in chronic
comorbidities in PLWH. Neighborhoods and social spaces are important contexts through which social
determinants act to shape health and health behavior. However, there is a fundamental gap in current scientific
evidence-based knowledge about what people actually experience in these contexts, their impact on care for
PLWH, and how they may interact with other drivers of sub-optimal care such as at-risk alcohol use and clinical
comorbidities. Our preliminary data suggest a significant role of stress exposure at multiple levels on alcohol use
outcomes and comorbidities. The objective of Research Component 1 (RC1) is to determine the impact of
community and interpersonal stress on behavioral and chronic comorbidities among PLWH, and the unique role
that alcohol use plays in the pathways. Our central hypothesis is that exposure to stressors at the community
and interpersonal levels will impact clinical comorbidities, such as cardiometabolic and cognitive outcomes in
PLWH, through impacts on alcohol use and additional behavioral and coping mechanisms. Our approach will
involve the incorporation of individual level demographic and clinical data along with neighborhood data and
interpersonal exposures from PLWH and HIV- adults. We will incorporate advance modeling techniques to
determine the relation of individual, interpersonal, and community level measurable variables and latent
constructs, testing longitudinally the mediation of the effects by alcohol consumption. We will also explore in
depth individual space and time geographical momentary assessment (GMA) data collected from this cohort.
RC1’s proposed research links basic science with behavioral and social sciences, to epidemiology to determine
the role in alcohol in HIV-associated comorbidities. Our project will provide key data that will directly inform
multilevel interventions to improve the health of minority communities and neighborhoods that continually sustain
the biggest burden of HIV and associated comorbidities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10310694
- **Project number:** 5P60AA009803-29
- **Recipient organization:** LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Tekeda F. Ferguson
- **Activity code:** P60 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $101,328
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1996-12-01 → 2024-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10310694

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10310694, Community and Interpersonal Stress, Alcohol, and Chronic Comorbidities among PLWH (5P60AA009803-29). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10310694. Licensed CC0.

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