health
Low-income men at greater risk for HIV infection
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 29, 2011
HIV prevalence among low-income heterosexual men living in cities with high levels of the disease is 10 to 20 times greater than the nation's overall infection rate, says a study in the Aug. 12 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Researchers examined data on 14,837 heterosexual men age 18 to 50 who lived in 24 metropolitan areas that participated in the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System from 2006 to 2007. Researchers found that 2% of respondents were infected with HIV, compared with 0.1% to 0.2% of all noninjection drug-using heterosexual men in the U.S. (link).
Prevalence was higher among those who did not finish high school, were unemployed and had incomes below the poverty level than in employed heterosexuals with higher levels of income and education.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/08/29/hlbf0829.htm.
