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Access to HIV services by the urban poor
I D Montoya1, R A Trevino, D L Kreitz
1Affiliated Systems Corporation, Houston, Texas 77027, USA. imontoya@affiliatedsystems.com
Journal of Community Health
|November 11, 1999
Summary
Access to HIV social services varied by transmission mode among racial groups, but medical service access did not differ by HIV status or transmission mode in this Houston study.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Services Research
- Health Disparities
Background:
- Access to HIV-related services is crucial for managing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
- Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare access persist in the United States.
- Understanding how HIV transmission mode and health status influence service access is vital for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of HIV health status and transmission mode on access to social and medical HIV services.
- To compare service access across African American, Hispanic, and White individuals living with HIV in Houston, Texas.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 424 HIV+ individuals (169 African Americans, 72 Hispanics, 253 Whites).
- Data collected on access to 8 social and 6 medical HIV services from 29 organizations.
- Analysis involved 42 separate logistic regressions for each service and race/ethnic group.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in access to HIV social services were observed based on HIV transmission mode across the three racial/ethnic groups.
- No significant differences in access to medical HIV services were found based on HIV health status or transmission mode among the groups.
Conclusions:
- HIV transmission mode, but not HIV health status, is associated with disparities in accessing social services among different racial/ethnic groups.
- Equitable access to medical HIV services was observed across racial/ethnic groups, irrespective of transmission mode or health status in this population.