HIV Risk Reduction and Postmenopausal Women: Nursing Research Agenda

Poster Presentation

Wednesday, 19 July 2006
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM

This presentation is part of : Poster Presentations I

Susan Lynde Hamilton, RN, MScN, CS, Department of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA

Learning Objective #1: describe biopsychosocial processes and referent group norms related to heterosexual risk of HIV infection for U.S. women after menopause.
Learning Objective #2: identify three knowledge gaps and research priorities related to HIV risks of women in menopausal transition and later life.

This poster presents an agenda for research on HIV risk of women after menopause. A critical review of literature framed within the Social Ecological Model (SEM) identifies HIV risk factors for older women. Knowledge gaps exist about the interplay of biopsychosocial processes with behavioral, cultural, and relationship norms as they affect the HIV sexual risk of postmenopausal women. Most research on HIV risk has excluded women aged 45 and older.

New cases of AIDS in women age 50 or older increased 41% between 2000 and 2003, compared to 23% for older men, and 10.3% overall (CDC, 2004). Women living with HIV are primarily Black (66%) and Latina (14%). In the 33 states with names-based reporting, 76% of women diagnosed between 2001 and 2004 acquired HIV heterosexually, and 24% of women diagnosed with HIV were aged 45 and older (CDC, 2005).

Older women report low rates of condom use and HIV testing, low perceived HIV susceptibility, and beliefs that condoms communicate a lack of trust and intimacy (Theall et al., 2003; Zablontsky & Kennedy, 2003). Primary care providers often overlook HIV as a possible source of symptoms in older women (Mack & Ory, 2003), resulting in later diagnosis, higher rates of simultaneous HIV and AIDS diagnoses, and more rapid progression from diagnosis to death (CDC, 2005; Zingmond et al., 2001).

Knowledge of the pathways by which biopsychosocial processes and referent group norms influence HIV risk behavior of older women is needed to inform risk reduction interventions. This agenda for nursing research in health promotion using the SEM builds on the foundation of social cognitive research on HIV risk behavior and new strategies adopted by the CDC for HIV prevention. The agenda incorporates the unique needs and challenges facing women in the menopausal transition and later life. (References available)

See more of Poster Presentations I
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)