Which individuals undergo voluntary HIV serologic testing in Puerto Rico?
GROUND: Although Puerto Rico exhibits one of the highest cumulative prevalence of AIDS within the political jurisdiction of the United States, mandatory HIV testing has not been favored by public health officials. Recent prevention and treatment advances have resulted in recommendations that HIV counseling and testing should be offered, irrespective of a threshold prevalence. Studies have shown that high testing rates can be achieved without a mandate. Profiles of individuals who undergo testing should help improve our strategies to promote voluntary testing. This paper explores the sociodemographic, self perception of health, perception of risk of contagion, and service use variables significantly associated with testing, in particular with voluntary testing for HIV. METHODS: Data is derived from a cross sectional survey of a probabilistic sample of residents of Puerto Rico living in poor housing areas, consisting of 3,470 subjects. This is the population sub-group at higher risk for
