title: Misperceptions about HIV transmission among heterosexual African-American and Latino men and women.
abstract: This research was conducted to identify myths and misperceptions about HIV/AIDS and barriers to risk reduction among heterosexual African-American and Latino-American men and women in Houston, Texas. Sixty four Latino-American and 69 African-American men and women, aged 13 to 59 years, participated in 10 and 11 focus groups, respectively. Each group was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using theme and domain analysis. The data confirmed the existence of myths and misperceptions among both groups about HIV/AIDS, specifically that HIV is an agent of genocide, suspicion of government information, belief that one can identify risky partners by odor and appearance, that partners' reported histories are accurate, significant misperceptions as to the meaning of "safe sex" (particularly in women), and belief that specific classes of people (not including oneself) are at risk for HIV. These data strongly suggest that concentration on narrow targeting of misinformation common in particular minority populations is important in the development of HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
authors.affiliation: HIV Prevention Center, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Texas Southern University, Houston 77004, USA.
authors.forename: E James
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Essien
authors.forename: Angela F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Meshack
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods; D003625:Data Collection; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D020010:Heterosexuality; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology