Latinas and HIV/AIDS risk factors: implications for harm reduction strategies

We examined risk factors for HIV infection among Puerto Rican and Mexican American women aged 15 through 44 years.

We used data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Analyses focused on the relation between sex role attitudes, sex education, anxiety, and consistent condom use.

Nearly 60% of Puerto Rican and Mexican American women received no sex education from parents. Twenty-one percent of Puerto Rican and 38.3% of Mexican American women reported no sex education in schools. Women with some sex education in school, less than 13 years of education, or higher sex role attitude scores were more likely than other women to have partners who consistently used condoms.

Harm reduction interventions must be designed to reach multiple Latino audiences by age, gender, and subgroup