title: General and health-related Internet use among an urban, community-based sample of HIV-positive women: implications for intervention development.
abstract: Internet-based HIV interventions are increasingly common, although little focus has been on HIV-positive women. To understand the feasibility of using the Internet to deliver behavioral interventions to HIV-positive women, we sought to describe patterns of Internet use for general and health-related purposes and to explore differences between Internet-using and non-using women. From February 2014 to April 2014, 103 women were recruited at six community-based organizations in the Bronx, NY that provide services to HIV-positive persons. Women completed a 30-minute interview and answered a brief survey of socio-demographic factors, risk behavior and clinical characteristics. We performed χ(2) and Kruskal-Wallis tests to compare Internet users and non-users. Sixty-one percent of participants were current Internet users, most of whom used a personal electronic device (e.g., cellphone/smartphone) to access the Internet. While higher proportions of Internet users were passively engaged (e.g., signed up to receive email updates [42.9%] or watched an online video [58.7%] for health-related purposes), smaller proportions (12.7-15.9%) were involved in more interactive activities such as posting comments, questions, or information about health-related issues in an online discussion or a blog. A majority of Internet non-users (60.0%) expressed interest in going online. Lack of computer or Internet access (37.5%) and Internet navigation skills (37.5%) were the primary reasons for non-use. Compared with non-users, Internet users were more likely to be younger, to have higher socioeconomic status, and to report low health-related social support. Despite having a lower proportion of Internet users in our study than the general population, Internet-using women in our study had relatively high levels of online engagement and went online for both general and health-related purposes. However, Internet-based interventions targeting HIV-positive women will likely need to include providing computer and/or Internet access as well as training participants in how to navigate the Internet.
authors.affiliation: a Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine , Department of Medicine , Bronx , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Oni J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Blackstock
authors.forename: Lorlette J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Haughton
authors.forename: Ruby Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Garner
authors.forename: Keith J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Norwood
authors.forename: Chinazo O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Cunningham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: HIV; Internet; intervention; technology; women