Correlates of Recent HIV Testing Among People Who Inject Drugs in Rural Areas: A Multi-site Cross-Sectional Study, 2018–2020

• Published in: AIDS and behavior 2024, Vol.28 (1), p.59-71
• Main Authors: Ibragimov, Umedjon, Livingston, Melvin D., Young, April M., Feinberg, Judith, Korthuis, P. Todd, Akhtar, Wajiha Z., Jenkins, Wiley D., Crane, Heidi M., Westergaard, Ryan P., Nance, Robin, Miller, William C., Bresett, John, Khoury, Dalia, Hurt, Christopher B., Go, Vivian F., Nolte, Kerry, Cooper, Hannah L. F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Child care; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drug abuse; Drug Users; Drugs; Health insurance; Health Psychology; Health services; HIV; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - diagnosis; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Testing; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Imprisonment; Infectious Diseases; Insurance; Medical screening; Medical tests; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Needle exchange programs; Opioids; Original Paper; Public Health; Rural areas; Rural health care; Substance abuse; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - complications; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - epidemiology; Substance use; Substance use disorder
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-023-04140-x

The Rural Opioid Initiative surveyed 2693 people who inject drugs (PWID) in eight rural U.S. areas in 2018–2020 about self-reported HIV testing in the past 6 months. Correlates of interest included receipt of any drug-related services, incarceration history, and structural barriers to care (e.g., lack of insurance, proximity to syringe service programs [SSP]). Overall, 20% of participants reported receiving an HIV test within the past 6 months. Multivariable generalized estimating equations showed that attending substance use disorder (SUD) treatment (OR 2.11, 95%CI [1.58, 2.82]), having health insurance (OR 1.42, 95%CI [1.01, 2.00]) and recent incarceration (OR 1.49, 95%CI [1.08, 2.04]) were positively associated with HIV testing, while experiencing a resource barrier to healthcare (inability to pay, lack of transportation, inconvenient hours, or lack of child care) had inverse (OR 0.73, 95%CI [0.56, 0.94]) association with HIV testing. We found that the prevalence of HIV testing among rural PWID is low, indicating an unmet need for testing. While SUD treatment or incarceration may increase chances for HIV testing for rural PWID, other avenues for expanding HIV testing, such as SSP, need to be explored.