Exploring Preventive Healthcare in a High-Risk Vulnerable Population

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Sexual Health

Background:

• Vulnerable populations often face barriers to accessing preventive healthcare services.
• Understanding healthcare utilization patterns is crucial for targeted public health interventions.
• Sexual health remains a critical component of overall well-being, particularly for high-risk groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe preventive care behaviors among high-risk heterosexuals in Houston, Texas.
• To explore opportunities for delivering preventive sexual healthcare to this population.
• To assess the relationship between healthcare utilization and sociodemographic factors.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system, high-risk heterosexuals (HET) cycle (2019).
• Analyzed sociodemographic characteristics and healthcare utilization, including usual source of healthcare and non-HIV STI testing.
• Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were employed.

Main Results:

• Over 47% of participants reported no usual source of healthcare.
• 94.6% received no non-HIV STI testing in the past 12 months.
• Significant associations were found between sociodemographic factors and healthcare utilization.

Conclusions:

• There is a substantial gap in preventive care and sexual healthcare access for high-risk heterosexuals.
• Future efforts must focus on increasing healthcare utilization and integrating sexual health services within community health centers.
• Targeted strategies are essential to address the needs of vulnerable populations and improve health outcomes.