Gender, socioeconomic status, migration origin and neighbourhood of residence are barriers to HIV testing in the Paris metropolitan area.

Veronique Massari (1) , Annabelle Lapostolle (1) , Emmanuelle Cadot (1) , Isabelle Parizot (2) , Rosemary Dray-Spira (3) , Pierre Chauvin (1)

1 ESIM - Epidémiologie des maladies infectieuses et modélisation
2 ERIS-CMH - Equipe de recherches sur les inégalités sociales (ERIS) / Equipe du Centre Maurice Halbwachs
3 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations

In France, numerous HIV patients still discover their HIV status as a result of AIDS-related symptoms. We investigated factors related to the absence of any HIV testing in men and women separately, using the data from the SIRS cohort, which includes 3023 households representative of the Paris metropolitan area in 2005. The failure to use HIV testing services was studied in relation to individual socioeconomic and demographic factors as well as some psychosocial characteristics. The effect of the characteristics of the residential neighbourhood was also analysed using multilevel models. In multivariate analysis, the factors associated with no history of HIV testing in women were an age >44, the absence of any pregnancy during the previous 15 years , a low education level, unemployment, to have had no or only one steady relationship in one's lifetime, to have a religious affiliation and to live in a poor neighbourhood. In men, factors were age <30 or >44, to have had no or only one steady relationship during one's lifetime, to have a religious affiliation and to perceive oneself as being at low risk of HIV infection An association according to the 'migration origin' was observed among men: foreigners and French men born to (at least) one foreign parent were more likely not to have been tested than French men born to two French parents. We conclude that gender, social and territorial differences exist in HIV testing among people living in the Paris area. More systematic proposals of HIV test in primary care would be an effective policy to overcome these persistent social stratifications.

Mots clés: HIV testing; gender; social inequalities; migration status; neighbourhood status

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Veronique Massari, Annabelle Lapostolle, Emmanuelle Cadot, Isabelle Parizot, Rosemary Dray-Spira, et al.. Gender, socioeconomic status, migration origin and neighbourhood of residence are barriers to HIV testing in the Paris metropolitan area.. AIDS Care, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/09540121.2011.579940⟩. ⟨hal-00712743⟩