This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Murphy, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Futterman, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Murphy, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Futterman, D.
Related Collections
Right arrow Infectious Disease & Immunity
Right arrowRelated AAP Red Book topics:
Human Immunodeficiency Virus...
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

PEDIATRICS Vol. 110 No. 3 September 2002, pp. e36

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE

Factors Associated With HIV Testing Among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative High-Risk Adolescents: The REACH Study

Debra A. Murphy, PhD*, Rick Mitchell, MS{ddagger}, Sten H. Vermund, MD, PhD§ and Donna Futterman, MD|| for the Adolescent Medicine HIV/AIDS Research Network

* Health Risk Reduction Projects, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, California
{ddagger} Westat, Inc, Rockville, Maryland
§ Department of Epidemiology and International Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
|| Adolescent AIDS Program, Department of Pediatrics, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York

--> Objective. To describe human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing patterns among high-risk, uninfected adolescents and HIV-infected adolescents, and factors associated with testing.

Methods. HIV-infected adolescents (N = 246) and high-risk, uninfected adolescents (N = 141) at 15 sites nationwide were asked about the number of times they were tested for HIV, the type of agency at which testing occurred, and reasons for testing.

Results. The majority of participants reported being influenced to obtain testing by health care providers (53.1% of the HIV-infected group and 66.1% of the HIV-uninfected group, respectively). Female participants were somewhat more likely to have used a confidential or anonymous site for the most recent test, compared with male participants (73.5% and 67.5%, respectively). Among the HIV-infected group, feeling sick was the only factor associated with number of tests. Among the HIV-uninfected group, having more male partners, marijuana use in the past 3 months, white race, and having had same-gender partners in their lifetime (males only) were associated with number of tests. Multivariate analyses identified 2 significant models. Modeling the probability of having been tested 3 or more times, black participants were less likely to be tested than white participants (odds ratio [OR] = 0.4), and participants who felt sick were more likely to be tested than those who did not (OR = 1.7). Modeling the probability that the last test would be positive, black participants were more likely than white participants to test positive (OR = 2.3); those who were tested because they thought they might have gotten HIV from sex (OR = 3.0) or they felt sick (OR = 3.9) were more likely to test positive; participants who were tested because a health care professional recommended it were actually less likely (OR = 0.5) to test positive.

Conclusions. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of making HIV testing more routinely available to sexually active adolescents. More work needs to be done to normalize HIV testing among adolescents, and more innovative approaches need to be implemented on a wide scale.

Key Words: HIV • HIV testing • adolescence • comparative study • risk-taking

Abbreviations: HIV, human immunodeficiency virus • STI, sexually transmitted infection • REACH, Reaching for Excellence in Adolescent Care and Health • SD, standard deviation • ACASI, audio computer assisted self-administered interview • OR, odds ratio

Received for publication Aug 3, 2001; Accepted May 29, 2002.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Public HealthHome page
C. M. Obermeyer and M. Osborn
The Utilization of Testing and Counseling for HIV: A Review of the Social and Behavioral Evidence
Am J Public Health, October 1, 2007; 97(10): 1762 - 1774.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]