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Correlates of HIV Infection Among African American Women from 20 Cities in the United States

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Abstract

Little research has been conducted to investigate multiple levels of HIV risk—individual risk factors, sex partner characteristics, and socioeconomic factors—among African American women, who, in 2010, comprised 64 % of the estimated 9,500 new infections in women. Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit and interview women in 20 cities with high AIDS prevalence in the United States through the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System. We assessed individual risk factors, sex partner characteristics, and socioeconomic characteristics associated with being HIV-positive but unaware of the infection among African American women. Among 3,868 women with no previous diagnosis of HIV, 68 % had high school education or more and 84 % lived at or below the poverty line. In multivariable analysis, women who were 35 years or older, homeless, received Medicaid, whose last sex partner ever used crack cocaine or was an exchange sex partner were more likely to be HIV-positive-unaware. Developing and implementing strategies that address socioeconomic factors, such as homelessness and living in poverty, as well as individual risk factors, can help to maximize the effectiveness of the public health response to the HIV epidemic.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the members of the NHBS Study Group for the 2010 sampling period for their contributions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, MS-E46, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    Wade Ivy III, Isa Miles, Binh Le & Gabriela Paz-Bailey

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  1. Wade Ivy III
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  2. Isa Miles
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  3. Binh Le
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  4. Gabriela Paz-Bailey
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Correspondence to Wade Ivy III.

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This study was conducted for the NHBS Study Group.

Members of the NHBS Study Group are given in Appendix.

Appendix

Appendix

Members of the 2010 NHBS Study Group include: Atlanta, GA: Jianglan White, Laura Salazar, Jeff Todd; Baltimore, MD: Colin Flynn, Danielle German; Boston, MA: Maura Miminos, Rose Doherty, Chris Wittke; Chicago, IL: Nikhil Prachand, Nanette Benbow; Dallas, TX: Sharon Melville, Shane Sheu; Alicia Novoa; Denver, CO: Mark Thrun, Alia Al-Tayyib, Ralph Wilmoth; Detroit, MI: Vivian Griffin, Emily Higgins, Karen MacMaster; Houston, TX: Jan Risser, Aaron Sayegh, Hafeez Rehman; Los Angeles, CA: Trista Bingham, Ekow Kwa Sey; Miami, FL: Marlene LaLota, Lisa Metsch, David Forrest; Nassau-Suffolk, NY: Bridget J. Anderson, Carol-Ann Watson, Lou Smith; New Orleans, LA: DeAnn Gruber, William T. Robinson, Narquis Barak; New York City, NY: Alan Neaigus, Samuel Jenness, Holly Hagan; Newark, NJ: Barbara Bolden, Sally D’Errico, Henry Godette; Philadelphia, PA: Kathleen A. Brady, Andrea Sifferman; San Diego, CA: Vanessa Miguelino-Keasling, Al Velasco; San Francisco, CA: H. Fisher Raymond; San Juan, PR: Sandra Miranda De León, Yadira Rolón-Colón, Melissa Marzan; Seattle, WA: Maria Courogen, Hanne Thiede, Richard Burt; St. Louis, MO: Michael Herbert, Yelena Friedberg, Dale Wrigley, Jacob Fisher; Washington, DC: Manya Magnus, Irene Kuo, Tiffany West; Behavioral Surveillance Team.

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Ivy, W., Miles, I., Le, B. et al. Correlates of HIV Infection Among African American Women from 20 Cities in the United States. AIDS Behav 18 (Suppl 3), 266–275 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0614-x

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