Abstract
HIV testing early in the immigration process can facilitate timely linkage to HIV prevention and treatment services for immigrants. This study aims to determine the prevalence of self-report HIV testing pre- and post-immigration and the associations between pre-immigration HIV sexual risk behaviors, access to healthcare post-immigration, and HIV testing post-immigration among young adult recent Latino immigrants. Cross-sectional data from 504 recent Latino immigrants aged 18 to 34 who immigrated to Miami-Dade County, Florida during the 12 months before assessment were analyzed using robust Poisson regression models. We found that 23.8% of participants reported HIV testing post-immigration and 56.7% reported HIV testing pre-immigration. The prevalence ratio for post-immigration HIV testing was higher for participants that had health insurance (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]: 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–2.38) and a regular doctor or healthcare provider after immigration (aPR: 1.43, 95% CI 1.03–2.00), and post-immigration HIV testing was higher for participants that had ever been tested for HIV before immigration (aPR: 2.41, 95% CI 1.68–3.45). Also, the prevalence ratio was lower for those who engaged in condomless sex in the three months prior to immigration (aPR: 0.65, 95% 0.47–0.90). These findings suggest that addressing barriers to healthcare and prevention services for young adult recent Latino immigrants is needed to scale-up HIV testing in this population early in the immigration process.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2841-2851 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | AIDS and Behavior |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- HIV sexual risk behaviors
- HIV testing
- Healthcare access
- Immigrants
- Latino A
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Infectious Diseases