A total of 1230 year 11 and 12 anglophone college students, modal age 16 and 17, in three colleges in Mumbai (Bombay), India, were studied with regard to sexual behaviours or risk of sexual behaviours, beliefs about sex, HIV/STD knowledge, and perceived norms regarding sexual behaviours. Data indicated that 8% of males and 1% of females had had sexual experience, but over one-third were not sure at all of being able to abstain from sexual activity with either steady or casual partners. However, perceived norms were slanted toward sexual abstinence for the majority of the sample. Knowledge of the protective effects of condoms was high, although half of those who had had sex did not use condoms. Logistic regression showed that knowledge was higher among males, those who believed it was OK to have sex with a steady partner and that they should not wait until they were older, those who believed that condoms should be used even if the partner is known, and those who believed it was acceptable to have multiple partners. Gender differences in sexual activity and beliefs about sexual activity showed that males were less likely to believe in abstaining from sexual activity and to engage in it. We conclude that this age-group is appropriate for HIV/STD reduction education given the low rate of sexual activity but that, despite knowledge of the importance of condom use, the social skills to apply this knowledge are lacking.
Prior studies demonstrate that non-White patients are less likely to achieve human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) suppression compared to White patients due to lack of health insurance. This study aims to determine whether racial disparities in the HIV care cascade persist among a cohort of privately and publicly insured patients. This retrospective analysis evaluated HIV care outcomes during the first year of care. Eligible patients were aged 18–65 years, treatment-naïve, and seen between 2016 and 2019. Demographic and clinical variables were extracted from the medical record. Differences in the proportion of patients achieving each HIV care cascade stage by race were evaluated using unadjusted chi-square testing. Risk factors for viral non-suppression at 52 weeks were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. We included 285 patients; ninety-nine were White, 101 were Black, and 85 identified as Hispanic/LatinX ethnicity. Significant differences in retention in care for Hispanic/LatinX patients (odds ratio (OR): 0.214, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.067–0.676) and viral suppression for both Black (OR: 0.348, 95% CI: 0.178, 0.682) and Hispanic/LatinX patients (OR: 0.392, 95% CI: 0.195, 0.791) compared to White patients were observed. In multivariate analyses, Black patients were less likely to achieve viral suppression compared to White patients (OR: 0.464, 95% CI: 0.236, 0.902). This study showed that non-White patients were less likely to achieve viral suppression after 1 year despite insurance and suggests that other unmeasured factors may disproportionately affect viral suppression in these patients. Interventions to identify and address these factors are needed to improve HIV care outcomes for non-White populations.
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