title: HIV testing among midlife women in the deep south: an analysis of the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to examine HIV testing uptake among postmenopausal women. Many women are routinely tested for HIV during pregnancy. Disproportionate numbers of women beyond reproductive age are diagnosed HIV-positive late in the disease course. Some older women and healthcare providers have dismissed early AIDS symptoms as signs of aging. This has resulted in missed opportunities for early initiation of effective antiretroviral therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2008 data were analyzed for non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black women (50-64 years) from six deep south states. Logistic regression models examined associations between uptake of HIV testing and population/behavioral characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half of our sample (1091 of 2027) had an HIV test during their postreproductive years (>45 years old). Women 50-54 years old were about 40% as likely to have been tested for HIV during their postreproductive years as those 60-64 years old (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45-0.84). Population characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, family poverty status, and urbanization, as well as HIV exposure risk, were all potential confounders of this relationship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Routine HIV testing is underused among women during their postreproductive years. HIV prevention messages that target midlife women are needed to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and disproportionate burden of late diagnosed HIV infection in this population.
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina-Arnold School of Public Health, Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities, 220 Stoneridge Drive, Columbia, SC 29210, USA. lisa.wigfall@sc.edu
authors.forename: Lisa T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Wigfall
authors.forename: Donna L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Myriam E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Annang
authors.forename: Lisa L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lindley
authors.forename: Kamala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Swayampakala
authors.forename: Neethu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sebastian
authors.forename: Saundra H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Glover
authors.forename: Wayne A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Duffus
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data