Effects on Sexual Risk Behavior and STD Rate of Brief HIV/STD Prevention Interventions for African American Women in Primary Care Settings

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) 2007-06, Vol.97 (6), p.1034-1040
• Main Authors: Jemmott, Loretta Sweet, Jemmott, John B., III, O'Leary, Ann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; African Americans; AIDS; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Black or African American; Black People; Chi-Square Distribution; Condoms; Epidemiology. Vaccinations; Female; General aspects; Health Promotion - methods; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Incidence; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; New Jersey - epidemiology; Prevention and actions; Primary Health Care - methods; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Research and Practice; Risk-Taking; Sexual Behavior; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - epidemiology; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - prevention & control; Statistics, Nonparametric; STD; Treatment Outcome; Urban Population; Women; Women's Health; Womens health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.020271

We tested the efficacy of brief HIV/sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk-reduction interventions for African American women in primary care settings. In a randomized controlled trial, 564 African American women recruited at a Newark, NJ, inner-city women's health clinic were assigned to a 20-minute one-on-one HIV/STD behavioral skill-building intervention, 200-minute group HIV/STD behavioral skill-building intervention, 20-minute one-on-one HIV/STD information intervention, 200-minute group HIV/STD information intervention, or 200-minute health intervention control group. Primary outcomes were self-reported sexual behaviors in the previous 3 months; secondary outcome was STD incidence. At 12-month follow-up, participants in the skill-building interventions reported less unprotected sexual intercourse than did participants in the information interventions (Cohen's d [d]=0.23, P=.02), reported a greater proportion of protected sexual intercourse than did information intervention participants (d=0.21, P=.05) and control participants (d=0.24, P=.03), and were less likely to test positive for an STD than were control participants (d=0.20, P=.03). This study suggests that brief single-session, one-on-one or group skill-building interventions may reduce HIV/STD risk behaviors and STD morbidity among inner-city African American women in primary care settings.