Study links Latino immigrants' HIV testing to level of adaptation to U.S. culture

Los Angeles Times / latimes.com ^ | November 25, 2009 | 4:34 pm | From the metro staff of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA5News San Diego

[thecodont]

Latino immigrants considered at risk for HIV are less likely to be tested or to have access to healthcare services if they are in the country illegally and have not fully adapted to U.S. culture, according to a new study.

The findings underscore the need for more targeted education and prevention programs within the diverse Latino community, which accounts for a disproportionate number of new HIV and AIDS cases in the U.S., said Janni Kinsler, one of six UCLA researchers who conducted the study.

“HIV is not declining, and it should be,” Kinsler said. “If you don’t know that you have it, God only knows who you are transmitting it to.”

Latinos made up 14% of the population in 2006, according to the Census Bureau. But they accounted for 22% of new HIV and AIDS cases that year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

They also tended to be tested for HIV later than other ethnic groups and to be more likely than whites to also have hepatitis C, which can be associated with a more rapid progression to full-blown AIDS, according to studies.

Researchers at UCLA's Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research surveyed 600 Latinos recruited from Los Angeles County sexually transmitted disease clinics, needle-exchange programs and community-based organizations that provide HIV-prevention services.

The researchers measured their level of acculturation -- how well adapted they are to their new culture -- by asking them where they were born, how long they had lived in the U.S., the primary language spoken at home and their current immigration status.

Those with lower levels of acculturation were more than twice as likely to have had no more than one HIV test and to have tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, the study said. ...

[thecodont]

There are those who come in through the gate, and those who try to climb in over the garden wall.

[buccaneer81]

Another case of big money spent to merely affirm common sense and reason.

[JoeMac]

And those who climb over the garden wall don’t want to assimilate at all!

[concerned about politics]

Latino immigrants considered at risk for HIV are less likely to be tested or to have access to healthcare services if they are in the country illegally and have not fully adapted to U.S. culture, according to a new study.

DUH! Then seal the stupid border.

[A_Former_Democrat]

And Janni actually draws a paycheck for this?

[John Locke]

"The findings underscore the need for more targeted education and prevention arrest and deportation programs within the diverse Latino community..."

Fixed the typo.