Predicting HIV Transmission Risk among HIV-Infected Patients Seen in Clinical Settings

Abstract

We assessed risk of transmission among 4,016 HIV-infected patients in primary care, including men who have sex with men (MSM, n=2,109), women (n=1,104) MSM were more likely to use methamphetamines (8% versus 2% and 3% respectively), while MSW (17%) and women (12%, compared to 11% for MSM) were more likely to use cocaine. Clinical settings offer opportunities for preventing HIV transmission, particularly if interventions are tailored to sub-populations of HIV-infected patients.Predicting Transmission Risk 1

Unsafe Sexual Behavior Among HIV-Infected Patients in Croatia, 2006: Prevalence and Associated Factors

“…We surveyed almost 50% of the HIV-infected population in Croatia, however, and had a low refusal rate and wide inclusion criteria, which allowed us to generalize our findings to the entire HIV-infected population of about 400 persons under medical care in Croatia. Our findings were similar to behavioral data reported from recent studies in other settings (Golden et al 2007;Morin et al 2007), which showed that MSM were more likely to report risky sexual behavior than were MSW or women. Such studies have led to the development of national behavioral surveillance systems for HIV/ AIDS patients (Malitz and Eldred 2007).…”

“…Heterosexual patients of both sexes were more likely than MSM to expose their main partners to HIV and to report no casual non-concordant, unprotected sex in that period, a finding not reported in similar studies (Golden et al 2007;Morin et al 2007). There also was evidence of sero-sorting among MSW and women with casual partners.…”

“…There was a lower percentage of risky behavior among Croatian MSM than among MSM in other settings, who engaged more often in casual sex and in casual sex with partners of unknown HIV status (Chen et al 2006;Golden et al 2007;Morin et al 2007). The absolute number of MSM who reported inconsistent or no use of condoms in the last 6 months with casual partners of unknown HIV status was low.…”

“…A longitudinal design might better describe factors associated with risky sexual behavior. Recall bias was another issue of concern because we asked participants to remember events over 6 months, but other studies, similar in design to ours, also used a period of 6 months for history of sexual behavior (Morin et al 2007;Wolf et al 2003). In addition, our findings are based on self-report of sexual behaviors that are stigmatized in Croatia (i.e., being both HIV infected and sexually active), possibly resulting in misinformation being given by HIV-infected persons.…”

Examining the Role of Serostatus Disclosure on Unprotected Sex Among People Living with HIV

“…[23][24][25][26][27] We know there are differences in sexual risk behavior patterns between HIV-infected MSM, men who have sex with women (MSW), and women who have sex with men (WSM). [28][29][30][31][32][33] These differences suggest that the costs, benefits, and outcomes associated with serostatus disclosure may also differ between groups. 22 In fact, several studies have found differences between these three groups in serostatus disclosure to sex partners.…”