RESUMO
Latina women represent nearly half of all females diagnosed with AIDS in Los Angeles County, yet little is known about their risk behaviors compared to women of other race/ethnicities. Compared to white and African American women with AIDS, Latinas with AIDS had fewer lifetime male sexual partners (P < .0001); reported fewer sexually transmitted diseases (OR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.5); were less likely to trade sex for drugs/money (OR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.5); and were less likely to report exposure to HIV via injection drug use (OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.99). Latinas were also more likely to be single mothers (OR = 3.02; 95% CI: 1.4, 6.4); less likely to receive public assistance (OR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.70); were less likely to have completed high-school (OR = 0.11; 95% CI: .04, .31) and were more likely to never have had health insurance (OR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.15, 5.18). The data demonstrate low-risk behaviors for Latinas and underscores the challenge of delivering effective HIV prevention to women without traditional risk profiles.
