Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

HIV Knowledge Among Pregnant Latinas in Rural South Carolina

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To inform and strengthen culturally-tailored HIV perinatal prevention, we assessed HIV knowledge among pregnant Latinas receiving prenatal care in rural South Carolina. We administered an 11 item HIV knowledge scale (n = 171). Women who answered 8 of 11 (73 %) items correctly were categorized as having “high” knowledge; <8 items correct was categorized as “low” knowledge. Seventy-six percent of participants had low HIV knowledge; only 37 % knew that there is medicine to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. In multivariate analyses, high HIV knowledge was more likely among women who had ≥high school education compared with women with elementary school education only (Adjusted Odds Ratio 10.5, 95 % Confidence Interval 3.3–33.6). These findings highlight the need for targeted educational interventions to better inform Latinas regarding perinatal HIV prevention and transmission risks. Enhancing efforts with patients and providers is aligned with national goals for HIV prevention and elimination of perinatal transmission.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and dependent areas, 2013. HIV Surveillance Report 2015;25. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/surveillance/2013/surveillance_Report_vol_25.html. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  2. An Q, Hernandez A, Prejean J, German EJ, Thompson H, Hall HI. Geographic differences in HIV infection among Hispanics or Latinos—46 States and Puerto Rico, 2010. MMWR;2012. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6140a2.htm. Accessed 20 June 2016.

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Estimated HIV incidence among adults and adolescents in the United States, 2007–2010. HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report 2012;17(4). http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/reports/#supplemental. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  4. Ennis SR, Ríos-Vargas M, Albert NG. The Hispanic population: 2010, 2010 Census Briefs. 2011. http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2016.

  5. Branson BM, Handsfield HH, Lampe MA, et al. Revised recommendations for HIV testing of adults, adolescents, and pregnant women in health-care settings. MMWR 2006. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5514a1.htm. Accessed 20 June 2016.

  6. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Prenatal and perinatal human immunodeficiency virus testing: expanded recommendations. Committee Opinion No. 635. Obstet Gynecol. 2015;125:1544–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Patterson KB, Leone PA, Fiscus SA, et al. Frequent detection of acute HIV infection in pregnant women. AIDS. 2007;21:2303–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lampe MA, Nesheim S, Shouse RL, et al. Racial/ethnic disparities among children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection—34 States, 2004–2007. MMWR 2010. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5904a2.htm. Accessed 20 June 2016.

  9. Podhurst LS, Storm DS, Dolgonos S. Women’s opinions about routine HIV testing during pregnancy: implications for the opt-out approach. AIDS Patient Care STDs. 2009;23(5):331–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kropp RY, Sarnquist CC, Montgomery ET, Ruiz JD, Maldonado YA. A comparison of perinatal HIV prevention opportunities for Hispanic and non-Hispanic women in California. AIDS Educ Prev. 2006;18(5):430–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monitoring selected national HIV prevention and care objectives by using HIV surveillance data—United States and 6 dependent areas—2012. HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report 2014;19(3). http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/surveillance/. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  12. Nesheim S, Taylor A, Lampe MA, et al. A framework for elimination of perinatal transmission of HIV in the United States. Pediatrics. 2012;130(4):738–44. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-0194.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Pew Hispanic Center. The New Latino South: the context and consequences of rapid population growth. 2005. http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/reports/50.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  14. American Immigration Council. New Americans in South Carolina: the political and economic power of immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Palmetto State. April 2015. http://immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/new_americans_in_south_carolina_2015.pdf. Accessed 3 June 2016.

  15. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC). An epidemiologic profile of HIV and AIDS in South Carolina 2014. https://www.scdhec.gov/health/docs/stdhiv/pp_CH1-EpiProfile.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  16. White House Office of National AIDS Policy. National HIV/AIDS strategy for the Unites States. Updated to 2020. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/NHAS.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  17. U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). South Carolina: three rural definitions based on census places. http://www.ers.usda.gov/datafiles/Rural_Definitions/StateLevel_Maps/SC.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  18. Code of Federal Regulations. Protection of human subjects. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html. Accessed 20 May 2016.

  19. Ethier KA, Ickovics JR, Fernandez MI, et al. The perinatal guidelines evaluation project HIV and pregnancy study: overview and cohort description. Public Health Rep. 2002;117:137–47.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Whitmore SK, Taylor AW, Espinoza L, Shouse L, Lampe MA, Nesheim S. Correlates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the United States and Puerto Rico. Pediatrics. 2012;129:e74–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. United States Census Bureau. Projections of the size and composition of the U.S. population: 2014 to 2060. http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p25-1143.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  22. Del Rio C. Latinos and HIV care in the southeastern United States: new challenges complicating longstanding problems. Clin Infect Dis. 2011;53:488–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Adimora AA, Ramirez C, Schoenbach VJ, Cohen MS. Policies and politics that promote HIV infection in the Southern United States. AIDS. 2014;28(10):1393–7. doi:10.1097/QAD.0000000000000225.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Morales-Aleman MM, Sutton MY. Hispanics/Latinos and the HIV continuum of care in the Southern USA: a qualitative review of the literature, 2002–2013. AIDS Care. 2014;26:1592–604. doi:10.1080/09540121.2014.936817.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Anderson JE, Ebrahim SH, Sansom S. Women’s knowledge about treatment to prevent mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus transmission. Obstet Gynecol. 2004;103(10):165–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tarahomi M, Yaghmaie F, Asadi S, et al. Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS: Do Iranian pregnant mothers know about it? J Reprod Infertil. 2010;11(1):53–7.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Maimaiti R, Andersson R. Awareness and attitudes about HIV among pregnant women in Aksu, Northwest China. Open AIDS J. 2008;2:72–7. doi:10.2174/1874613600802010072.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Hernandez CM. HIV/AIDS in childbearing Hispanic/Latinas: an emerging crisis. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2011;36(6):354–8. doi:10.1097/NMC.0b013e31822d67aa.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Gray AD, Carlson R, Morgan MA, Hawks D, Schulkin J. Obstetrician–gynecologists’ knowledge and practice regarding human immunodefiency virus screening. Obstet Gynecol. 2007;110:1019–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Burke RC, Sepkowitz KA, Bernsttein KT, Karpati AM, Myers JE, et al. Why don’t physicians test for HIV? A review of the literature. AIDS. 2007;21:1617–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Green DR, Anderson BL, Burke MF, Griffith J, Schulkin J. Obstetric providers’ knowledge, awareness, and use of CDC’s HIV testing recommendations and one test. Two Lives™. Matern Child Health J. 2012;16(5):1113–9. doi:10.1007/s10995-011-0839-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Cutler J. No mother-to-child HIV transmissions for first time, New York State reports. New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/no-mother-to-child-hiv-transmissions-time-state-article-1.2446353. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  33. Kudryashova-Hernandez L. One body, one test, two lives: patient centered strategy to increase HIVtesting in pregnant women and their partners. Retrovirology. 2012;9:70. doi:10.1186/1742-4690-9-S1-P70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. McNeil DG. Cuba wins W.H.O. certification it ended mother-to-child H.I.V. transmission. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/health/who-certifies-end-of-mother-to-child-transmission-of-hiv-in-cuba.html. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  35. Thacker K. Academic-community partnerships: opening the doors to a nursing career. J Transcultural Nurs. 2005;16:57–63. doi:10.1177/1043659604270978.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. National Council of La Raza. 2009 Profiles of Latino health. http://www.nclr.org/images/uploads/pages/Question11.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  37. Meetze EG. Perceptions and experiences of prenatal care providers in communicating about the HIV test with pregnant Latinas in South Carolina. http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1373/. Accessed 8 May 2016.

  38. Lockman S, Creek T. Acute maternal HIV infection during pregnancy and breast-feeding: substantial risk to infants. J Infect Dis. 2009;200:667–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Haghdoost AA, Karamouzian M. Zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths: feasible goals or ambitious vision on the occasion of World AIDS Day? Int J Prev Med. 2012;3(12):819–23.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the pregnant women, providers and bilingual translators who shared their time as part of this study.

Funding

This study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Minority HIV/AIDS Research Initiative Grant # 5U01PS000697.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology, Consortium for Latino Immigration, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Myriam E. Torres & Edena G. Meetze

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Myriam E. Torres

  3. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, NCHHSTP, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ashley Murray, Zaneta Gaul & Madeline Y. Sutton

  4. ICF International, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Zaneta Gaul

Authors
  1. Myriam E. Torres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashley Murray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Edena G. Meetze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zaneta Gaul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Madeline Y. Sutton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Madeline Y. Sutton.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Additional information

Disclaimer The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Torres, M.E., Murray, A., Meetze, E.G. et al. HIV Knowledge Among Pregnant Latinas in Rural South Carolina. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 897–904 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0455-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0455-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation