{"doi":"10.1007/s11414-025-09948-0","title":"Age and Race Disparities in Viral Suppression and the Moderating Effect of Substance Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Viral suppression is essential for individuals living with HIV, as it is linked to improved clinical outcomes and long-term health. Research has documented age and racial disparities in HIV viral suppression. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are particularly affected by HIV infections, especially in the Southern United States. Studies indicate that substance use among people with HIV in the U.S. presents significant barriers to engaging in HIV care. This study investigated the relationships between age, race, MSM status, and viral suppression among men living with HIV (MLWH), who participated in the Helping HAND program at an academic medical center in a Southern state. The analysis included 746 male participants, primarily Black/African American. The results showed that increases in age were positively associated with a greater likelihood of viral suppression, even after adjusting for harmful or hazardous drinking, problematic substance use, race, and MSM status. Younger MSM participants were less likely to achieve viral suppression than older MSM participants. In this male only sample, neither race nor MSM status was found to be related to viral suppression. Additionally, harmful or hazardous drinking and problematic substance use did not moderate the associations between age, race, or MSM and viral suppression. These findings highlight disparities in viral suppression across different age groups among men living with HIV. The results emphasize the need for targeted outreach initiatives specifically designed for younger age cohorts living with HIV, including MSM.</jats:p>","journal":"The Journal of Behavioral Health Services &amp; Research","year":2026,"id":624669,"datarank":0.20794415416798362,"base_score":1.3862943611198906,"endowment":1.3862943611198906,"self_citation_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":3,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1614878,"name":"Jake C. Steggerda","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1614880,"name":"Deborah Konkle-Parker","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1614881,"name":"Andrew C. Voluse","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1188556,"name":"Ran Fang","orcid":"0000-0001-6804-6572","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Age and Race Disparities in Viral Suppression and the Moderating Effect of Substance Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Viral suppression is essential for individuals living with HIV, as it is linked to improved clinical outcomes and long-term health. Research has documented age and racial disparities in HIV viral suppression. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are particularly affected by HIV infections, especially in the Southern United States. Studies indicate that substance use among people with HIV in the U.S. presents significant barriers to engaging in HIV care. This study investigated the relationships between age, race, MSM status, and viral suppression among men living with HIV (MLWH), who participated in the Helping HAND program at an academic medical center in a Southern state. The analysis included 746 male participants, primarily Black/African American. The results showed that increases in age were positively associated with a greater likelihood of viral suppression, even after adjusting for harmful or hazardous drinking, problematic substance use, race, and MSM status. Younger MSM participants were less likely to achieve viral suppression than older MSM participants. In this male only sample, neither race nor MSM status was found to be related to viral suppression. Additionally, harmful or hazardous drinking and problematic substance use did not moderate the associations between age, race, or MSM and viral suppression. These findings highlight disparities in viral suppression across different age groups among men living with HIV. The results emphasize the need for targeted outreach initiatives specifically designed for younger age cohorts living with HIV, including MSM.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":1.3862943611198906,"endowment":1.3862943611198906,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"40346409","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4410231959","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration","grant_id":"1H79TI080682","title":null}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":2.4723,"citation_percentile":0.87976546,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2025,"count":3}],"oa_status":"hybrid","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11414-025-09948-0.pdf","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11414-025-09948-0.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11414-025-09948-0","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-025-09948-0","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40346409","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/12876449","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12876449/","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions","HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk","HIV Research and Treatment","Humans","Male","HIV Infections","Homosexuality, Male","Substance-Related Disorders","Adult","Black or African American","Middle Aged","Age Factors","Viral Load","Young Adult","Health Status Disparities","Healthcare Disparities","White"],"mesh_terms":["White","Adult","Age Factors","Black or African American","Humans","Male","Middle Aged","HIV Infections","Homosexuality, Male","Viral Load","Substance-Related Disorders","Health Status Disparities","Healthcare Disparities","Young Adult"],"keywords":["Men who have sex with men","Demography","Medicine","Gerontology","Outreach","Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)","Viral load","Race (biology)","Immunology","Biology","Syphilis"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Good health and well-being"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-04T04:29:39.862952Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}