Researchers Look at Repeat HIV Testing in Black U.S. Women

"A central challenge of the AIDS epidemic among African American women is promoting acceptance of repeat HIV testing among those at risk of infection," R. Crosby and colleagues at the University of Kentucky wrote in a recent report. The researchers performed an exploratory study to identify behavioral and psychosocial correlates of intent for repeat HIV testing among women "disenfranchised from traditional health care delivery systems," conducting face-to-face interviews with 143 women at an urgent care center in the urban South.

Using multivariate analyses, the authors found three psychosocial correlates significantly associated with women's intent for repeat testing. Women less worried about HIV were more likely to report low intent for testing, the study said, than women expressing more concern. In addition, concern about having blood drawn was "also robustly associated with intent."

"Finally, a one unit increase on the 5-point scale assessing less agreement that having HIV would make life complicated corresponded to 3.3 greater odds of indicating low intent," the researchers wrote.

"Study findings provide a potential focal point for efforts designed to promote repeat HIV testing among women from the study population," the authors concluded.

The report, "Correlates of Intent for Repeat HIV Testing Among Low-Income Women Attending an Urgent Care Clinic in the Urban South," appeared in Public Health Nursing (2004;21(5):419-424).

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