SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENCES AMONG PEOPLE WITH AIDS - RESULTS FROM A MULTISTATE SURVEILLANCE PROJECT

To characterize the socioeconomic status of persons with acquired immu nodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), 11 U.S. state and city health department s interviewed 2,898 persons greater-than-or-equal-to 18 years of age r eported with AIDS between June 1, 1990, and January 31, 1993. Among me n who have sex with men, white men reported the lowest percentage (9%) , and Central/South American (50%) and Mexican men (40%) reported the highest percentages not completing 12 years of school. Among intraveno us drug users (IDUs), 35% of white men, 64% of black men, 67% of Puert o Rican men, 29% of white women, and 63% of black women had not comple ted 12 years of school. Overall, 77% of the men and 90% of the women w ere unemployed; we also found racial/ethnic differences by employment but to a lesser degree than differences in education. Among women, but not among men, differences in household income by race and ethnicity were marked; 76% of white and 91% of black female IDUs reported a hous ehold income of $10,000. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention programs must be targeted toward the educational level of the populat ions served, and HIV services must adapt to the financial circumstance s of their clientele.