The efficacy of behavioral interventions in reducing HIV risk sex behaviors and incident sexually transmitted disease in black and Hispanic sexually transmitted disease clinic patients in the United States: a meta-analytic review.
OBJECTIVE
Interventions targeting sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic patients provide an important opportunity to modify high-risk sex behaviors related to HIV/STD transmission. Identifying efficacious interventions for blacks and Hispanics is urgently needed because these 2 groups are disproportionately affected by the HIV/STD epidemics.


OBJECTIVE
This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of behavioral interventions in reducing unprotected sex and incident STD among black and Hispanic STD clinic patients.


METHODS
Comprehensive searches, including electronic databases (1988-2004), hand searches of journals (January 2004 to June 2005), reference lists of articles, and contacts with researchers, identified 18 randomized, controlled trials meeting the selection criteria.


RESULTS
Interventions significantly reduced unprotected sex (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.68-0.87; 14 trials; N = 11,590) and incident STD (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.73-0.998; 13 trials; N = 16,172).


CONCLUSIONS
Behavioral interventions provide an efficacious means of HIV/STD prevention for blacks and Hispanics who attend STD clinics.
Crepaz
Nicole
N
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. ncrepaz@cdc.gov
Horn
Angela K
AK
Rama
Sima M
SM
Griffin
Tanesha
T
Deluca
Julia B
JB
Mullins
Mary M
MM
Aral
Sevgi O
SO
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D021841:Safe Sex; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D001741:Black or African American