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HIV Testing and Mistaken Beliefs about Immigration Laws

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that migrants may underutilize USA health care because of misconceptions about immigration-related consequences of health care use. This study aimed to explore whether common misconceptions about the immigration consequences of seeking health care, receiving an HIV test, and being diagnosed with HIV were associated with participant self-report of never having received an HIV test. The study sample comprised 297 adult, sexually active, documented and undocumented Spanish-speaking Latino migrants. Participants completed a cross-sectional survey via ACASI. In multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for sociodemographic variables and HIV stigma, misconceptions about laws emerged as a strong predictor of never having received an HIV test (p < .001). Associations between participants’ endorsement of misconceptions and their HIV testing history suggest that incorrect perceptions of laws do deter some subgroups of USA Latino migrants from HIV testing. Identifying misconceptions about negative immigration consequences of engaging in important health behaviors should be a community health research priority.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all of the participants and community partners that made this important study possible.

Funding

This study was funded by The National Institutes of Health (Grant Numbers 1R01MH091875-02 and P30MH052776-23).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for AIDS Intervention Research, The Medical College of Wisconsin, 2071 N Summit Ave, Milwaukee, WI, 53202, USA

    Carol L. Galletly, Laura R. Glasman, Wayne DiFranceisco, Michelle R. Broaddus, Julia B. Dickson-Gomez & Timothy L. McAuliffe

  2. Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University, 111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA

    Julia Lechuga

  3. UMMA Community Clinic, 5849 Crocker St, Unit K, Los Angeles, CA, 90003, USA

    Miriam Vega

  4. Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, 310 Trent Drive Campus Mailbox 90392, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Sara LeGrand & Carla A. Mena

  5. Duke University, 206 Academic Advising and Resource Center Building Box 90694, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Morgan L. Barlow

  6. The Latino Commission on AIDS, 24 West, 25th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Judith I. Montenegro

Authors
  1. Carol L. Galletly
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  2. Julia Lechuga
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  3. Laura R. Glasman
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  4. Wayne DiFranceisco
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  5. Michelle R. Broaddus
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  6. Julia B. Dickson-Gomez
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  7. Timothy L. McAuliffe
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  8. Miriam Vega
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  9. Sara LeGrand
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  10. Carla A. Mena
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  11. Morgan L. Barlow
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  12. Judith I. Montenegro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol L. Galletly.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Galletly, C.L., Lechuga, J., Glasman, L.R. et al. HIV Testing and Mistaken Beliefs about Immigration Laws. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 6, 668–675 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00565-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00565-0

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