Psychological and social determinants of health, antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, and viral suppression among HIV-positive black women in care

ABSTRACT

Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV, accounting for 61% of women diagnosed in 2016. Black women with HIV are less likely to be adherent to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and virally suppressed compared to women of other racial/ethnic groups. We analyzed 2013–2014 data from 1703 black women patients in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Medical Monitoring Project to examine whether select psychological and social determinants of health (SDH) factors were associated with ART adherence and viral suppression. We calculated weighted estimates and used multivariable logistic regression with adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to examine correlates of ART adherence and viral suppression. Women who had not been incarcerated in the past 12 months (aPR = 1.24; CI: 1.04–1.48) and had not experienced discrimination in a health care setting since their HIV diagnosis (aPR = 1.06; 1.00–1.11) were slightly more likely to be adherent to ART. Women who lived above the federal poverty level were more likely to be virally suppressed during the past 12 months (aPR = 1.09; CI: 1.01–1.18). More research is warranted to identify the best strategies to create health care settings that encourage black women’s HIV care engagement, and to address other key SDH and/or psychological factors.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV/AIDS
• women
• black
• social determinants of health
• viral suppression
• treatment adherence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Erin L. P. Bradley http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5208-9145

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [grant number PS09-937].