title: STD and HIV testing behaviors among black and Puerto Rican young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Given the high rates of infection among urban young adults, STD and HIV testing promotion is a public health priority. To inform future testing efforts, lifetime and recent testing behaviors of this population within casual and serious relationships should be better understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from a 2007-2008 study conducted in select neighborhoods in Hartford and Philadelphia were used to examine self-reported STD and HIV testing behaviors and attitudes among 483 sexually active black and Puerto Rican young adults aged 18-25. Multivariate ordered logit regression analyses were conducted to assess characteristics associated with lifetime number of STD tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than eight in 10 participants reported having been tested for STDs, and a similar proportion for HIV, most of them multiple times. Nineteen percent had ever had an STD diagnosis. A majority-86%-perceived their risk of STD infection in the next year as "not at all likely." Sixty-one percent of those in serious relationships reported that both partners had been tested, compared with 25% of those in casual relationships. Characteristics associated with higher lifetime number of STD tests were being female (odds ratio, 2.2), being from Philadelphia (2.5), being black (1.5), having lived with two or more serious partners (1.7) and having ever received an STD diagnosis (2.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite their risks, participants did not perceive themselves to be at risk of STDs. However, they did report testing repeatedly. Testing was highly acceptable, particularly within serious relationships. Questions about the timing of testing initiation and repeat testing merit attention for the benefits of widespread testing to be fully realized.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. MCarter1@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Marion W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Joan Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: Kendra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatfield-Timajchy
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hock-Long
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hogben
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003237:Connecticut; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D015143:Philadelphia; D011634:Public Health; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology