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Income and AIDS rates in Los Angeles County
1Division of HIV/AIDS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Objective:
To examine the relationship between income and AIDS rates in Los Angeles County (LAC) by race/ethnicity.
Methods:
1990 US census data were used to classify LAC postal zones (zip codes) by median household income into low-, middle-, and high-income strata. AIDS rates were calculated for each income stratum based on 15,805 AIDS cases diagnosed from 1987 through 1992 and reported to the county health department.
Results:
The AIDS rate was highest among residents of low-income areas (252.8 per 100,000), intermediate among residents of middle-income areas (161.2 per 100,000), and lowest among residents of high-income areas (82.0 per 100,000). This trend in rates was present in all racial/ethnic groups examined and was most pronounced among whites (675.1, 226.7, and 88.4 per 100,000, respectively). Residents of low-income areas accounted for 78% of AIDS cases among blacks, 67% among Hispanics, and 47% among whites.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest a strong inverse relationship between income and AIDS rates in LAC that is consistent across racial/ethnic groups. Prevention programs and treatment services should be directed most intensively to low-income neighborhoods in this county.