HIV testing and HIV knowledge among sexually active young Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese women Hyeouk Chris Hahm, Ph.D, LCSW Julie Peterson Mario Feranil Catherine Shen Boston University School of Social Work

Women and HIV/AIDS Women in the United States are facing a rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. AIDS incidence among women has risen at alarming rates since 1985 (a 20-fold increase in 20 years).

Rising incidence of HIV/AIDS among API women ( , CDC)

Heterosexual contact: the major route of HIV transmission ( , CDC)

HIV Testing

Why is HIV testing important? 1.People with HIV who know they are infected can get treatment. - Keep them healthy and live longer 2. Knowing that one is positive helps a person to make better decisions about sex, drugs, and health care. 3.Many people with HIV who know that they are infected avoid behaviors that spread infection to others with whom they have sex or share drugs and needles

Percentage of Asians, Native Hawaiians & other Pacific Islanders who have never been tested for HIV in the United States,

HIV testing by ethnicity among the sexually experienced API women: the lowest proportion (Hahm et al., 2009)

Why AA do not get tested for HIV? – Fears of social discrimination due to HIV diagnosis – Culturally driven stigma from family – Lack of support around sexual health education in the Asian community

Research Questions: 1.How confident are Asian-American women of their HIV knowledge? 2.Where do they receive HIV information? 3.What is the proportion of Asian-American women in MA that have received HIV testing? 4.Is there a relationship between HIV knowledge and HIV testing?

METHODS

Asian Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE) Randomized Clinical Trial Data (Sept 2013 – August 2014; Boston, MA)

AWARE RCT Preliminary Consort Chart

Methods (Continued) – Clinical trial data collected via computer survey between September 2013 and August 2014 in Boston, MA – Asian-American women between years old – Measure of HIV knowledge: HIV Knowledge Questionnaire (HIV-KQ-45)

RESULTS

Demographic Characteristicn (%) Age Mean average24 Education High school only6 (6%) Some college education/College graduate82 (76%) Graduate/Professional School20 (19%) Ethnicity Chinese59 (55%) Korean23 (21%) Vietnamese15 (14%) Multi/Other11 (10%) Sexual Orientation Exclusively heterosexual75 (70%) Not exclusively heterosexual32 (30%) Past 3 month condom use Always27 (36%) Not consistently47 (64%) Demographic Characteristics of the Sample

CategoryAnswerPercent Correct (%) HIV vs. AIDS AIDS is the cause of HIVFalse58.33% Transmission HIV can be spread by mosquitosFalse51.85% A person can get HIV by giving bloodFalse31.48% Symptoms A person with HIV can look and feel healthyTrue66.67% People who have been infected with HIV quickly show serious signs of being infectedFalse75.93% Treatment HIV is killed by bleachTrue10.19% If a person tests positive for HIV, then the test site will have to tell all of his or her partnersFalse53.27% Prevention Women are always tested for HIV during their pap smearsFalse41.67% There is a female condom that can help decrease a woman’s chance of getting HIVTrue50.93% Taking a test for HIV one week after having sex will tell a person if she or he has HIVFalse39.81% Question 1. How confident are AA women in terms of their HIV knowledge? On average, women answered about 73.5% of questions correctly.

Question 2. Where do they receive HIV information?

Question 3. What is the proportion of Asian- American women in MA that have ever been tested for HIV?

4. What is the relationship between HIV knowledge and HIV testing? There was a significant difference between HIV testing and overall HIV knowledge, where women that have been tested scored 8.8% higher on average than those that have never been tested.

Conclusions The proportion of our sample that had undergone HIV testing (43%) was similar to that of the US adult population (45%) In particular, knowledge on HIV prevention and treatment was lower for this population. AA women do not talk about HIV with family members nor their mental health clinicians. Future implications: – Innovative tools should be developed to increase HIV knowledge and HIV testing for Asian-American women. – Continue to work towards addressing barriers such as access to care and and culturally appropriate services

AWARE Intervention 1.Introduction to AWARE 2.Disempowering Parenting 3.Double Bind 4.Body Image, Stereotypes of AA, & Social Media 5.Romance, Violence, and Everything in Between 6.Sex and Substance Abuse 7.Giving Yourself Grace 8.New Beginning