Health
HIV-positive patients not getting safe-sex message
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 12, 2004
Even after receiving risk-reduction counseling, some individuals who know they are HIV-positive are engaging in high-risk behavior that could transmit their infection, according to a study in the Jan. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Interviews with 256 individuals who attended a New York City HIV clinic revealed that 41% had engaged in unprotected sex after learning that they were HIV positive, the study reports.
Trading sex for drugs or money was an important factor associated with high-risk behavior, particularly for women.
"I think what we need to do is make a safe sex counseling message an ongoing part of clinical care, not counseling once a year," said lead author Joseph P. McGowan, MD, of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York. He also warned that monotonous warnings can lead to patient "fatigue" in which risky behavior increases as the message wears off.
Counseling also should not be separated from the cure. "Prevention and treatment have to go hand in hand," Dr. McGowan said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/01/12/hlbf0112.htm.
