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HIV Testing, Risk Behaviors, and Fear: A Comparison of Documented and Undocumented Latino Immigrants

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Abstract

Latino immigrants in the United States are at elevated risk for HIV infection and delayed HIV diagnosis. Immigration documentation status and its contribution to fears are important barriers to accessing health services including HIV testing. A currently changing political climate within the United States may have increased the complexity of the intersection of documentation status and health care access. This study used an anonymous survey conducted in March and April 2017 in New York City to compare: sociodemographic characteristics, HIV testing behaviors, HIV risk behaviors, and perceptions of fear around HIV testing among documented and undocumented Latino immigrants (N = 301). We found that undocumented immigrants reported lower levels of education, income, and health insurance than did documented immigrants. However, groups did not differ in having tested for HIV in the last 12 months, in future intentions to test for HIV, or in emotional/cognitive perceptions of fear around HIV testing. Undocumented immigrants reported lower rates of having ever tested for HIV in their lifetime (68.6%) than documented immigrants (80.5%) (p = 0.027). In conclusion, we found that despite sociodemographic challenges, undocumented immigrants had similar HIV testing behaviors as their documented counterparts in our study community. Further understanding of the mitigating factors that resulted in seemingly equal access to HIV testing in this community for undocumented immigrants is warranted.

Resumen

Los inmigrantes Latinos tienen un mayor riesgo de contraer el VIH y de tener retraso con el diagnóstico en los Estados Unidos. El estatus de documentación de inmigración y su contribución al miedo son obstáculos importantes al acceso a los servicios de salud como la prueba de VIH. El clima político está cambiando actualmente in los estados unidos, lo cual se haya aumentado la complejidad de la intersección del estatus de documentación y el acceso a la asistencia sanitaria. Este estudio utilizó una encuesta anónima realizado en marzo y abril de 2017 en la Ciudad de Nueva York para comparar las características sociodemográficas, los comportamientos de pruebas del VIH, los comportamientos de riesgo, y el miedo de la prueba de VIH entre los inmigrantes Latinos documentados y los indocumentados (N = 301). Encontramos que los inmigrantes indocumentados reportaron niveles más bajos de educación, ingresos, y seguro médico que los inmigrantes documentados. Sin embargo, no hubo diferencias significativas entre los grupos en haberse hecho la prueba del VIH en los últimos 12 meses, en intenciones futuras de hacerse la prueba de VIH, o en la evaluación del miedo cognitivo/emocional acerca de la prueba de VIH. Los inmigrantes indocumentados reportaron tasas más bajas de alguna vez haberse hecho la prueba del VIH (68.6%) que los inmigrantes documentados (80.5%) (p = 0.027). En conclusión, encontramos que, a pesar de las dificultades sociodemográficas, los inmigrantes indocumentados tenían comportamientos similares de hacerse la prueba de VIH que sus contrapartes documentadas en nuestra comunidad en estudio. Es, por tanto, necesario que tengamos una mejor comprensión de los factores atenuantes que contribuyen al acceso a la prueba de VIH que parece igual para inmigrantes indocumentados en esta comunidad.

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Funding

Funding

The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R36MH108395. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Additional support was provided by the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health at New York University Silver School of Social Work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, 98103, USA

    Jane J. Lee

  2. Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR), New York, USA

    Gary Yu

  3. NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, USA

    Gary Yu

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  1. Jane J. Lee
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Correspondence to Jane J. Lee.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board at New York University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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

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Lee, J.J., Yu, G. HIV Testing, Risk Behaviors, and Fear: A Comparison of Documented and Undocumented Latino Immigrants. AIDS Behav 23, 336–346 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2251-x

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