Factors Promoting High Risk and Protective Behaviors Among African-American Women

Health Services Center, Inc., Hobson City AL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Health Services Center, Inc. (HSC) proposes to accurately characterize the risk behaviors and social networks of a typically-hidden population of African-American women at risk for heterosexually transmitted HIV and STDs in rural Alabama areas with high HIV prevalence. Specifically, HSCwill follow guidelines set forth by the CDC to enroll a minimum of 350 research participants for epidemilogical data collection. It is anticipated that such information is important as a necessaryfirst step in better understanding and designing culturally-appropriate, empirically-validated prevention and treatment strategies to improve the health of this underserved population. This project will employ a cross-sectional epidemiological research design and will utilize both quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches. Additionally, this study will include the collection of electronic data using personal digital assistants (PDAs), OraQuick Advance HIV-1/2Antibody tests, and urine STDtesting. This initiative will utilize respondent-driven sampling (RDS), consistent with Social Network Theory, to recruit and enroll high-risk African-American womenwho are identified as members of the social networks of African-American HIV infected individuals who are currently receiving medical care at HSC. Urban settings and populations are over-represented in epidemiological studies of HIV in the United States. The findings from this study will be relevant to the public health by better characterizing a less examined segment of the population in which HIV and STD are most rapidly increasing (e.g., African- American women in the rural South).