Effects on Sexual Behavior and STD Rate of Brief HIV/STD Prevention Interventions for African-American Women in Primary Care Settings

The study authors tested the efficacy of brief HIV/STD risk-reduction interventions for African-American women in primary care settings. A total of 564 African-American women were recruited from a Newark, N.J., inner-city women's health clinic for the randomized controlled trial.

The women were assigned to a 20-minute, one-on-one HIV/STD behavioral skill-building intervention; 200-minute group HIV/STD behavioral skill-building intervention; 20-minute one-on-one HIV/STD information intervention; 200-minute group HIV/STD information intervention; or 200-minute health intervention control group. Primary outcomes were self-reported behaviors in the previous three months, while the secondary outcome was STD incidence.

At follow-up at 12 months, women in the skill-building interventions reported less unprotected sex than did participants in the information interventions (Cohen's d[d]=0.23, P=.02), reported a greater proportion of protected sexual intercourse than did information intervention participants (d=0.21, P=.05) and control participants (d=0.24, P=.03), and were less likely to test positive for an STD than the control group (d=0.20, P=.03).

"This study suggests that brief single-session, one-on-one or group skill-building interventions may reduce HIV/STD risk behaviors and STD morbidity among inner-city African-American women in primary care settings," the authors concluded.

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