Who Has Been Tested and Who Should Be Tested? Policy Implication on HIV/AIDS Testing Among African American Women - Evidence Using Data from BRFSS

Date

2014-09

Authors

Morooka, Hideki
Lampkins, Alberta

Journal Title

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Volume Title

Publisher

Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies

Abstract

African American women are facing a high risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS at an alarming rate. Once believed to predominantly affect gay men and intravenous drug users, African American women now account for 30% of the estimated rate of new HIV cases among all African Americans and 57% of all new HIV infections among all races of women. Knowing their HIV status is a key component to preventing further detriment to the lives of African American women, this study uses the nationally representative data from the 2010 Be- havioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to examine socio-demographic and health factors associated with African American women ever being tested for HIV. This study's findings indicate that education, age, and marital status are significantly associated with predicting whether African American women have ever been tested for HIV. This study suggests that when designing HIV prevention and education programs for African American women, it should be taken into account that the married older population needs to be particularly aware of the potential risk of HIV infection.

Description

Keywords

HIV, AIDS, testing, prevention, African Americans, women, gender, BRFSS

Citation

Morooka, H., & Lampkins, A. (2014). Who has been tested and who should be tested? Policy implication on HIV/AIDS testing among African American women - Evidence using data from BRFSS. <i>Journal of Research on Women and Gender, 5</i>(1), pp. 30-39.

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© The Authors.

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