Sexual diversity and HIV risk among older heterosexual African American males who are seropositive.
The purpose of this study is to describe the occurrence of non-condom use during vaginal or anal intercourse, controlling for HIV symptoms, AIDS knowledge, relationship status, and safe-sex discussion, in 73 self-identified heterosexual African American males who are seropositive. The participants were analyzed as a subset from a larger sample of 130 African American men who are HIV seropositive. HIV-related symptoms were reported by all of the study participants. Twenty-seven percent of the participants reported engaging in same-sex behavior, 37% reported not using condoms during vaginal sex, and 75% reported not using condoms during anal sex during the past 3 months. Twenty-four percent did not decrease sexual risk behaviors, despite being seropositive. The logistic regression analysis indicated that the odds for participants not using condoms who did not engage in safe-sex discussions were 77.4 times for vaginal sex and 14.2 times during anal sex. These findings are compelling given that African Americans comprise 50% of new HIV infections each year.
Coleman
Christopher Lance
CL
Center for Health Disparities Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia 19104-6096, USA. colemanc@nursing.upenn.edu
Ball
Katherine
K
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000451:nursing; D020010:Heterosexuality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*