Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health | |
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HIV Counseling and Testing: Women's Experiences |
| TABLE 1. Percentage distribution of family planning clinic clients, by their own and their main partner's HIV testing history at the time of enrollment in a risk reduction trial, New York City, 1994-1996 | |
| Testing history | % |
| (N=354) | |
| Neither the woman nor her partner had been tested | 22 |
| Only the woman had been tested | 23 |
| Only the partner had been tested | 10 |
| Both had been tested individually | 32 |
| Couple had had mutual testing | 12 |
| Total | 100 |
| Note: Six women were excluded because they were unsure as to whether they had received an HIV test or information on partner testing was unavailable. | |
| TABLE 2. Selected characteristics related to HIV risk, by women's testing status at baseline | ||
| Characteristic | Ever tested | Never tested |
| Lifetime no. of partners (median) | 6 | 4** |
| Have multiple partners (%) | 24.3 | 21.9 |
| Main partner has any risk characteristic† (%) | 50.7 | 60.0 |
| Use condoms during vaginal or anal intercourse (%) | 57.0 | 44.0 |
| Ever had an STD (%) | 63.5 | 48.7** |
| Have children (%) | 47.5 | 29.6** |
| Ever had an abortion (%) | 62.4 | 57.4 |
| Know partner's HIV status (%) | 65.9 | 27.6*** |
| No. of women participant knows who might have been exposed to HIV (mean) been exposed to HIV (mean) | 1.7 | 1.2* |
| Endorse testing in committed relationships (mean score, five-point scale) | 4.7 | 4.3** |
| Believe that frequent testing is a good way to avoid HIV (%) | 42.1 | 48.7 |
| *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. †Partner has had STD symptoms in the last three months; or woman knows or suspects that her partner has had other partners since the beginning of their relationship, has ever had sex with a man or has ever injected drugs. | ||
| TABLE 3. Percentage of women in the intervention and control groups who reported at the one-month follow-up that they had had an HIV test since the baseline interview, and relative risk (and 95% confidence intervals) of having been tested among women in the intervention group, by type of testing reported and testing history | |||||
| Testing type and history | Intervention | Control | Relative risk | ||
| N | % | N | % | ||
| INDIVIDUAL | |||||
| All | 233 | 31.4 | 108 | 14.8 | 2.12 (1.30-3.47)* |
| Baseline testing history | |||||
| Multiple tests | 80 | 45.0 | 32 | 15.6 | 2.88 (1.24-6.68)** |
| One test | 72 | 29.2 | 40 | 17.5 | 1.67 (0.78-3.58) |
| No test | 70 | 18.6 | 36 | 11.1 | 1.67 (0.59-4.76) |
| Timing of last test† | |||||
| >6 months ago | 70 | 28.6 | 43 | 4.7 | 6.14 (1.51-24.99)** |
| <6 months ago | 81 | 44.4 | 29 | 34.5 | 1.29 (0.74-2.25) |
| MUTUAL | |||||
| All | 201 | 9.5 | 101 | 2.0 | 4.77 (1.13-20.09)* |
| Baseline mutual testing history | |||||
| No mutual test | 158 | 8.9 | 82 | 0.0 | na |
| Any mutual test | 25 | 4.0 | 15 | 13.3 | 0.30 (0.03-3.03) |
| *p<.05. **p<.01. †Among women who had been tested at baseline. Note: na=not applicable. | |||||
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© copyright 2001, the Alan Guttmacher Institute. |