Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) antibodies in a family-planning population.

ABSTRACT

PIP: Researchers conducted a retrospective blind study of 743 women attending the family planning clinic at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to determine HIV-1 prevalence in a family planning population. HIV-1 seroprevalence stood at 1.1% (8 patients). The researchers were confident that the population size was large enough to accurately reflect HIV-1 prevalence in a family planning population. Since around 90,000 women used family planning services in Philadelphia, they estimated that 1600 women were actually HIV-1 seropositive in Philadelphia. HIV-1 seropositive patients were older than seronegative patients, but the difference was not significant (26.9% vs. 23.6%). 57.1% of seropositive patients and 48.7% of seronegative patients used oral contraceptives. HIV-1 seropositive clients used them. None of the HIV-1 seropositive patients had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) which alters the epithelium (condyloma, herpes, and syphilis) while 4.9% for the seronegative patients had such an STD. IN fact, 66.7% of the HIV-1 seropositive patients had no STD at all compared to 50% of seronegative patients. No association existed between HIV-1 seropositivity and illicit drug abuse. In conclusion, no association was found between HIV-1 seropositivity and ethnicity, marital status, education, history of STDs, drug and/or alcohol use, and contraceptive method. The researchers suggested that the inability to establish relationships may be due to a function of methods, sample size, or a reflection of a different population. Nevertheless they believed that the family planning clinic should offer HIV testing to women.