HIV-related risk behaviors and HIV testing among people with sensory disabilities in the United States

Abstract

People with disabilities are an important target population for HIV prevention and treatment programs. In this study, we examined the prevalence of HIV-related risk behaviors and HIV testing among people with visual and/or hearing impairments in the United States, and compared with people without any impairments. The study was a secondary data analysis of the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We performed weighted descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses to determine the association between ever testing for HIV and sociodemographic characteristics, healthcare access, and HIV-related risk behaviors. The prevalence of HIV-related risk behaviors was 7.1% (95%CI = 5.4–8.8), 3.9% (95%CI = 3.0–4.9), 3.5% (95%CI = 1.5–5.4), and 5.9% (95%CI = 5.7–6.1) among those with visual, hearing, both visual and hearing, and no impairments, respectively. HIV testing among those with visual impairment was 39.7% (95%CI = 37.0–42.3) and 28.9% (95%CI = 27.3–30.5) among those with hearing impairment. Approximately 26.8% (95%CI = 21.4–32.2) of the respondents with both impairments and 38.0% (95%CI = 37.6–38.3) of those with no impairments had ever tested for HIV. In the adjusted models, the factors associated with HIV testing varied across the subgroups, with only age, race/ethnicity, and HIV-related risk behaviors common to all the four subgroups. Compared with those without any impairments, the odds of ever testing for HIV was significantly higher among respondents with hearing impairment (aOR = 1.3, 95%CI = 1.14–1.38), after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, healthcare access, and HIV-related risk behaviors. Targeted interventions that will meet the unique needs of people with visual and/or hearing impairments are required to reduce HIV-related risk behaviors and improve uptake of HIV testing.