HIV community prevalence and testing practices in León, Nicaragua

• Our objective was to determine the HIV prevalence, testing practices, and HIV-related behaviors in a general population sample in the municipality of Leon, Nicaragua. We performed a cross-sectional community-based study of 2,204 males and females ages 18 to 69, from a health and demographic surveillance system. A behavior survey and blood sampling for HIV were also carried out. Seven of 1,960 individuals who provided biological samples (0.35%; CI 0.18–0.67) were HIV positive. The predicted prevalence of HIV among non-participants was about 11% higher than the observed prevalence but it was not significantly different. The major obstacle to HIV testing seemed to be the fear of being diagnosed HIV positive. This is the first study to determine HIV prevalence among the general population in Nicaragua. Our findings confirmed that this population has a low prevalence but high risk for HIV infection. Prevention strategies are essential to maintain this figure.

Nyckelord

HIV

prevalence

testing

health demographic surveillance system

Nicaragua

Omvårdnadsforskning med medicinsk inriktning

Caring Sciences in Medical Sciences

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)