AEGiS-14IAC: HIV risk and violence in a cohort of low-income US latinas.

14th International AIDS Conference


Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

DonateNow
Print this article

HIV risk and violence in a cohort of low-income US latinas.

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. C10737)

O'Campo P, Peragallo N, DeForge B, Lee S, Ferrer L, Cianelli R
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States

BACKGROUND: The intersection of HIV infection and intimate partner violence (IPV) among women is gaining increasing recognition. Yet, Latinas have received very little research attention in this context.

METHODS: Project SEPA (Salud, Educacion, Autocuidado; R01NR04767, Peragallo) recruited sexually active Latina women, aged 18-40, from several government, community and health clinic sites in Chicago IL, USA in 1999 and 2001 (N=657). Baseline data included information on demographics, HIV risks and protective behaviors, and lifetime and recent experiences of violence.

RESULTS: Women in this sample were highly acculturated to the Latino community as 75% of the interviews were in Spanish. 81% lived with partners and 65% had fewer than 2 lifetime partners. Yet, only 25% of the sample had no risks for HIV. 33% of the sample experienced abuse before age 18, and 45% experienced violence as an adult from an intimate partner. Condom use half or more than half of the time during sex was low at 21%. Knowledge of HIV risk factors was low in this sample. After adjustment for several demographic factors, HIV risks were higher for women who experienced abuse in childhood (odds ratio 2.1) and as adults (OR 2.7) compared to women who did not experience such abuse. HIV related knowledge, perceptions and condom use, were also associated with childhood and adult experiences of violence.

CONCLUSIONS: IPV is associated with HIV risk, knowledge, perceptions and condom use in this sample of low-income Latina women. Future research on the intersection of IPV and HIV risks and protective practices among other populations is warranted.

Keywords: AEGIS, Violence, Hispanic Americans, Poverty, HIV Infections, Safe Sex, HIV Seropositivity, Substance-Related Disorders, Interpersonal Relations, Chicago, Human, Female, AdultKWDaegis,violence,hispanicamericans,poverty,hivinfections,safesex,hivseropositivity,substance-relateddisorders,interpersonalrelations,chicago,human,female,adult

020707
C10737

Copyright © 2002 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.