Beliefs and Perception of Risks of HIV Among Women That Have Never Been Tested for HIV in the United States

Purpose: To assess women's attitudes, beliefs, characteristics, the perception of risks, and their relationships with not utilizing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing services. Methods: This study is a retrospective study and secondary data analysis of the 2006 National Health Interview Survey. Parametric testing using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses was performed to examine perception of HIV acquisition and the relationship with not utilizing HIV testing services among women in the United States. Results: More than half of the women in this study had never been tested for HIV (52.26%). In the multivariate analysis, using SAS callable SUDAAN, women who had not been tested for HIV that believed they had no risk of getting HIV were more likely to have never been married (odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% CI, 0.31-28.73; p =.0013). In addition, women who had never been tested for HIV that believed they had no risk of getting HIV were more likely to have less than a high school diploma (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.15-0.78; p = .0022). Conclusion: Findings from this study can lend themselves to the development-of more efficient and sustainable interventions to prevent HIV infection and decrease high-risk behaviors among more susceptible populations and for the development of HIV testing policy.