Citation

Raiford JL, Hall GJ, Taylor RD, Bimbi DS, Parsons JT. AIDS Behav. 2016; 20(10): 2212-2221.

Affiliation

Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10461-016-1424-8

PMID

27167631

Abstract

This study examines the role of structural barriers experienced by a community-based sample of 63 HIV-positive and negative transgender women that may elevate HIV infection and transmission risks. Separate hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses tested the association between structural barriers (e.g., unemployment, lack of food, shelter) and condomless anal sex acts, abuse, and readiness to change risk behavior, while controlling for other related factors. Among this primarily Hispanic and African-American sample, HIV-positive and negative transgender women experienced a similar number of structural barriers and experiencing structural barriers was significantly associated with an increased number of condomless anal sex acts (p = .002), victimization (p = .000) and a decreased readiness to change HIV-related risk behavior (p = .014). Structural-level interventions are needed to address this elevated risk among this underserved and hard-to-reach population.

Language: en