Social and behavioural characteristics of a sample of AIDS Help-Line users never tested for HIV in Italy

Abstract

Background: We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional telephone survey among persons who had never undergone HIV testing to determine their socio-demographic characteristics, behaviour, risk perception and reasons for not being tested. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to adult callers to the Italian National AIDS Help-Line who reported that they had never been tested for HIV. Results: The study sample consisted of 539 individuals. The individual who does not undergo testing is young (median age 30 years), male (85.5), unmarried (79.0), employed (70.1) and with a high educational level (81.6). More than two-thirds of the respondents had little or no perception of risk. Among persons who had more than one sexual partner, 47.0 do not use a condom. When dividing the respondents into two groups (i.e. high risk and lower risk), the results showed that the proportion of respondents with a high risk was higher among women (73.1), among persons >35 years (76.3) and among persons with a low educational level (77.8). Individuals who had hadbeen seen in health-care facilities also reported high-risk behaviour. Conclusions: The results indicate the socio-demographic characteristics, behaviours, risk perception and reasons for not being tested among a sample of callers to Italy's National AIDS Help-Line, and they confirm the necessity of gearing prevention activities towards heterosexuals and young adults with a low perception of risk. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.