Distance to Public Test Sites and HIV Testing

Abstract

This article examines how proximity to the nearest publicly funded test site affects HIV testing. Using a sample of 5,361 Los Angeles County adults, multinomial logit models estimated simultaneously the likelihood of (1) obtaining an HIV test in the prior 2 years, and (2) testing in a private physician's office, a publicly funded medical clinic, or in a nonmedical setting, such as a bar or bathhouse. Low-income Los Angeles residents rely on publicly funded sites for HIV testing. When public sites are more distant, poor individuals are less likely to use them and less likely to get tested. Distance from public sites does not affect HIV testing among the nonpoor. To encourage HIV testing among the groups where HIV is growing fastest, public health agencies must keep the time and money costs of HIV testing low.