title: Risk perception and counselling among HIV-positive women in São Paulo, Brazil.
abstract: This study of HIV-positive women at a clinic for HIV/AIDS in São Paulo examined their risk perception for HIV before they had learned of their diagnosis and their experiences with pre- and post-test counselling. A sample of 148 women was interviewed regarding demographics, HIV risk factors and risk perception, pre- and post-test counselling, and sexual and reproductive conduct. The majority (77%) had been infected by their partners--37% by an injecting drug user partner. More than half (53%) did not perceive themselves at risk before learning of their HIV status and, of 68 who had perceived themselves at risk, 29% did so only after their partners became ill. The majority (64%) did not receive any kind of pre-test counselling. Post-test counselling was reported by 83% but 14% reported being mishandled by a physician in the process. Findings suggest the importance of prevention efforts to reduce women's barriers to learning about HIV status and the necessity of improving the quality of pre- and post-test counselling.
authors.affiliation: Programa Estadual de DST/AIDS de São Paulo (São Paulo State STD/AIDS Programme), Brazil. efilipe@cebinet.com.br
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ventura-Filipe
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Bugamelli
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leme
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hearst
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D003376:Counseling; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010465:Perception; D012306:Risk