HIV counseling and testing among Hispanics at CDC-funded sites in the United States, 2007

We sought to determine whether Hispanic-White HIV testing disparities exist and to identify characteristics associated with newly diagnosed HIV among Hispanics.

We used 2007 HIV Counseling and Testing System data to compare test-level records of Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites, and we conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify characteristics associated with newly diagnosed HIV.

Relative to Whites, Hispanics were more likely to have had a positive HIV test result (1.2% versus 0.8%), to have newly diagnosed HIV (0.8% versus 0.6%), and to have test results returned and receive posttest counseling more than 2 weeks after testing (24.3% versus 21.5%). Newly diagnosed HIV among Hispanics was most strongly associated with being a man who has sex with men (MSM; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 6.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.1, 7.6), being both an MSM and an injection drug user (AOR = 3.7; 95% CI = 2.6, 5.3), and being aged 40 to 49 years (AOR = 6.4; 95% CI = 4.9, 8.2).

Hispanic-White disparities exist with respect to rates of positive HIV test results and late return of results. HIV prevention strategies such as rapid testing should focus on Hispanic MSM.