HIV testing among Haitian women: lessons in the recognition of risk.

HIV testing among Haitian women: lessons in the recognition of risk.

Health Educ Behav. 1997 Dec;24(6):736-45. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/98073085
Wingerd JL; Page JB; Department of Psychiatry, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.; JWingerd@bellsouth.net

Abstract: Haitian women in Miami, Florida, responded to recruitment for testing of HIV antibody serostatus in ways that demonstrated the value of ethnographic methods for studying reactions to this kind of test, especially pre- and posttest counseling sessions. A total of 155 women between 14 and 61 years old, recruited in Miami in 1992 and 1993, participated. Response to testing identified three primary obstacles to the women's understanding of content presented in pre- and posttest counseling sessions: 1) their confusion about the meaning of positive versus negative, (2) the investigators' difficulty in communicating the concept of antibody, and (3) vagueness of the concept of window period between exposure and presentation of antibody. Retesting of a subset of Haitian participants helped to define sexual risk among these women in terms of having partners who had other partners and perception of supernatural risk.

Keywords: *AIDS Serodiagnosis/UTILIZATION *Health Education *Hispanic Americans/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA *HIV Seropositivity/EPIDEMIOLOGY *Urban Population/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA
980430
M9841770

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