HIV TESTING AMONG HAITIAN WOMEN - LESSONS IN THE RECOGNITION OF RISK

Haitian women in Miami, Florida, responded to recruitment for testing of HIV antibody serostatus in ways that demonstrated the value of ethn ographic methods for studying reactions to this kind of test, especial ly pre- and posttest counseling sessions. A total of 155 women between 14 and 61 years old, recruited in Miami in 1992 and 1993, participate d. Response to testing identified three primary obstacles to the women 's understanding of content presented in pre-and posttest counseling s essions: (1) their confusion about the meaning of positive versus nega tive, (2) the investigators' difficulty in communicating the concept o f antibody, and (3) vagueness of the concept of window period between exposure and presentation of antibody. Retesting of a subset of Haitia n participants helped to define sexual risk among these women in terms of having partners who had other partners and perception of supernatu ral risk.