HIV Infection Among Women Entering the New York State Correctional System

• NCJ Number: 132149
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 81, Supplement Dated: (May 1991) Pages: 35-40
• Author(s): P F Smith; J Mikl; B I Truman; L Lessner; J S Lehman; R W Stevens; E A Lord; R K Broaddus; D L Morse
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Free online PDF and HTML access to the American Journal of Public Health is provided by the publisher 24 months after individual issues are released.

Annotation

In 1988 a blinded seroprevalence study was conducted on 480 New York female prison entrants to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in this population.

Abstract

In the study group, 90 (18.8 percent) women were seropositive by the ELISA test; all were confirmed positive by Western blot. Seroprevalence was highest among women aged 30-39 (25.0 percent) and varied by ethnicity (Hispanics, 29.4 percent; blacks, 14.4 percent; whites, 7.1 percent) and residence (New York City, 23.8 percent; Upstate, 5.1 percent). Nearly half (44.9 percent) of the 136 acknowledged intravenous drug users and one-third (33.8 percent) of the 71 women with a positive syphilis serology were HIV-seropositive. There was no difference in fertility histories between seropositive and seronegative women; two of 21 pregnant women were seropositive. Women with tattoos were twice as likely to be HIV-seropositive as women without tattoos; however, when other possible exposures were controlled in the multivariate analysis, tattoos were not associated with HIV positivity. This study led to increased clinical and prevention services for female inmates. 5 tables and 27 references