| Abstract: |
In an attempt to examine the impact of experimental drug testing on psychological distress in individuals at risk for AIDS; 26 asymptomatic homosexual and bisexual men, seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), were assessed at the opening and closing phases of a 12-week trial of the antiviral agent ribavirin. Drug study participants reported significantly more emotional distress than a comparison group of seropositive men who were not receiving experimental treatment. The high level of distress evidenced by the present sample at the beginning of the experimental trial did not impede adherence, decrease over the period of the study, or relate to subjects’ beliefs that they were receiving a placebo; however, distress did relate to subjects’ perceptions of how HIV test results were communicated prior to entry into the study. These findings suggest both the feasibility of placebo-controlled studies in this distressed population and provide a focus for psychoeducational counseling. © 2011, The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. All rights reserved. |
