RESEARCH ARTICLE
Factors Associated with Lifetime HIV Testing in Texas by Race/Ethnicity
Raquel A Benavides-Torres1, Kristin M Wall2, *, Georgina Máyela Núñez Rocha3, Dora Julia Onofre Rodríguez1, Laura Hopson4
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 232
Last Page: 238
Publisher ID: TOAIDJ-6-232
DOI: 10.2174/1874613601206010232
Article History:
Received Date: 24/1/2012Revision Received Date: 16/4/2012
Acceptance Date: 26/4/2012
Electronic publication date: 5/10/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Introduction:
In United States, roughly 1/5 of all HIV infected persons remain undiagnosed. Because HIV testing is critical to improve prevention efforts, more research is needed to understand the characteristics of individuals who get tested for HIV.
Methods:
This secondary analysis of the 2010 Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System used data from 9,744 respondents between 18-64 years of age to evaluate the relationship between demographic characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, age, area of residence, education, marital status, employment status, and income), healthcare characteristics (insurance status, having a primary provider, and access to healthcare), and HIV risk behaviors with ever having received an HIV test.
Results:
Significant associations between gender, age, area of residence, marital and employment status, and HIV risk behaviors and HIV testing in a Texas population by race/ethnicity were observed.
Conclusions:
These findings have important implications for future research into racial/ethnic disparities between lifetime HIV testing, and can help guide practitioners who work with populations at risk for HIV/AIDS in Texas.
