RESEARCH ARTICLE
Piloting a System for Behavioral Surveillance Among Heterosexuals at Increased Risk of HIV in the United States
Elizabeth A DiNenno*, Alexandra M Oster, Catlainn Sionean, Paul Denning , Amy Lansky
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
Issue: Suppl 1
First Page: 169
Last Page: 176
Publisher ID: TOAIDJ-6-169
DOI: 10.2174/1874613601206010169
Article History:
Received Date: 30/4/2011Revision Received Date: 18/3/2012
Acceptance Date: 1/4/2012
Electronic publication date: 7/9/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objectives:
During the past decade, the number and proportion of reported HIV cases in the United States acquired through heterosexual contact has increased markedly. CDC employs the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System (NHBS) to monitor risk behaviors and HIV prevalence in high-risk populations. To identify a target population for conducting NHBS among heterosexuals at increased risk for HIV (NHBS-HET), CDC designed, implemented and evaluated a pilot study.
Methods:
The pilot study was conducted in 25 US metropolitan statistical areas in 2006-7. We recruited men and women who reported sex with at least one opposite-sex partner during the past year for a behavioral survey and HIV test. We investigated the relationship between newly diagnosed HIV infection and individual risk behaviors, sexual network characteristics, and social-structural characteristics to arrive at a definition of a heterosexual at increased risk of HIV.
Results:
Of 14,750 participants in the analysis, 207 (1.4%) had newly diagnosed HIV infection. Using low socioeconomic status (SES) as a criterion for defining a heterosexual at increased risk for HIV resulted in optimal rates of HIV prevalence, specificity, sensitivity and practicality.
Conclusions:
Results from the NHBS pilot study underscore the key role of social factors as determinants of HIV infection risk among U.S. heterosexuals, and low SES was incorporated into the definition of a heterosexual at increased risk for HIV in NHBS-HET cycles. Future cycles of NHBS-HET will help tailor prevention programs for those populations most at risk of HIV in the US.
