HIV Knowledge Among a Longitudinal Cohort of Juvenile Detainees in an Urban Setting

The authors investigated HIV knowledge change among a cohort of juvenile detainees. Participants completed an HIV knowledge survey at baseline and up to 4 more times over 6 years. The authors calculated knowledge scores; the time serial trend of scores was modeled using generalized estimating equations. A baseline survey was completed by 798 participants, ages 14 to 18 years; mean HIV knowledge scores ranged from 11.4 to 14.1 (maximum score = 18). Males had significantly lower HIV knowledge scores than females at baseline only. Over time, Hispanic participants had significantly lower scores than non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White participants. Overall, HIV knowledge increased but was still suboptimal 5 years after baseline. These findings suggest the need to develop and strengthen HIV prevention education programs in youth detention settings.