Psychoactive substance uses among people living with HIV/AIDS in Western Ethiopia: a multi-centered facility-based cross-sectional study

Background: Substance use is very prevalent among HIV-infected people. We examined psychoactive substance use and tobacco smoking among people living with HIV/AIDS in West Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were done to identify the factors associated with alcohol intake, current smoking, and khat use. The variables found significant with a p-value < .2 at bivariable were treated as candidates for the multivariable regression model. P-values of < .05 and 95% CI level were used as statistically significant differences for the final models. Results: A total of 418 participants were included in the study, making the response rate 88%. About 152 (36.4%) were khat chewers (36.4, 95%CI: 31.6–40.9) and 175 (41.9%) with 95% CI (37.6–46.4) of them are current smokers. Lack of formal education (AOR = 3.82, 95% CI: 1.36, 10.67), strong social support (AOR = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.59), urban resident (AOR = 3.52, 95%CI: 1.32, 9.34), and being single (AOR = 11.84; 95% CI: 2.4, 8.57) were found to be significantly associated with psychoactive substance use among people living with HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: This study found that there are higher psycho-active substance users among people infected with HIV compared to the national data level of the same group of population.