Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of transgender women living with HIV in California, who are and are not virally suppressed (N=253)
| Socio-ecological domain and variable | Overall (N=253) | Virally Suppressed (<200 copies/mL) n=165 | Virally Unsuppressed (≥200 copies/mL) n=88 | X2 (DF) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study site | |||||
| San Francisco (SF), CA | 98 (39%) | 71 (43%) | 27 (31%) | ||
| Los Angeles (LA), CA | 155 (61%) | 94 (57%) | 61 (69%) | 3.68 (1) | 0.06 |
| Individual and behavioral level factors | |||||
| Mean age (SD) | 43 (11) | 44 (11) | 40 (10) | −2.53 (251)* | 0.01 |
| Race-ethnicity | |||||
| Black or African American | 115 (45%) | 73 (44%) | 42 (48%) | ||
| White | 18 (7%) | 13 (8%) | 5 (6%) | ||
| Latina | 83 (33%) | 57 (35%) | 26 (29%) | ||
| Other | 37 (15%) | 22 (13%) | 15 (17%) | 1.52 (3) | 0.67 |
| Currently on antiretroviral therapy (ART) | 170 (67%) | 125 (76%) | 45 (51%) | 15.78 (1) | <0.01 |
| Median number of years since ART initiation (IQR) | 11 (4, 18) | 12 (5, 20) | 10 (3, 14) | −1.80* | 0.07 |
| Optimal adherence to ART (≥ 85%) | 152 (60%) | 101 (61%) | 51 (58%) | 0.25 (1) | 0.61 |
| Substance use | |||||
| Injection drug use ever | 121 (48%) | 69 (42%) | 52 (59%) | 6.86 (1) | <0.01 |
| Methamphetamine use in the past three months | 89 (35%) | 42 (25%) | 47 (53%) | 19.66 (1) | <0.01 |
| Amphetamine use in the past three months | 51 (20%) | 22 (13%) | 29 (33%) | 13.72 (1) | <0.01 |
| Cocaine use in the past three months | 22 (9%) | 11 (7%) | 11 (13%) | 2.45 (1) | 0.11 |
| Crack cocaine use in the past three months | 22 (9%) | 15 (9%) | 7 (8%) | 0.09 (1) | 0.76 |
| Inhalant use (e.g., popper use) in the past three months | 21 (8%) | 14 (8%) | 7 (8%) | 0.02 (1) | 0.88 |
| Opiate use in the past three months | 15 (6%) | 9 (5%) | 6 (7%) | 0.19 (1) | 0.66 |
| Hallucinogen use (e.g., LSD) in the past three months | 10 (4%) | 6 (4%) | 4 (5%) | 0.12 (1) | 0.72 |
| Phencyclidine/PCP (e.g., angel dust) in the past three months | 10 (4%) | 5 (3%) | 5 (6%) | 1.06 (1) | 0.30 |
| Sedative use (e.g., benzodiazepines) in the past three months | 13 (5%) | 8 (5%) | 5 (6%) | 0.08 (1) | 0.77 |
| Ketamine use in the past three months | 4 (2%) | 2 (1%) | 2 (2%) | 0.41 (1) | 0.51 |
| Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) use in the past three months | 14 (6%) | 7 (4%) | 7 (8%) | 1.51 (1) | 0.21 |
| Ecstasy use in the past three months | 12 (5%) | 7 (4%) | 5 (6%) | 0.26 (1) | 0.60 |
| Marijuana use in the past three months | 119 (47%) | 71 (43%) | 48 (55%) | 3.05 (1) | 0.80 |
| Polysubstance use (i.e., the use of three or more drugs) in the past three months | 57 (23%) | 30 (18%) | 27 (31%) | 5.13 (1) | 0.02 |
| Substance use disorder severity based on DSM criteria | |||||
| None | 43 (23%) | 29 (25%) | 14 (18%) | ||
| Mild | 31 (16%) | 23 20%) | 8 (10%) | ||
| Moderate | 21 (11%) | 12 (11%) | 9 (12%) | ||
| Severe | 96 (50%) | 50 (44%) | 46 (60%) | 6.14 (3) | 0.10 |
| Psychological factors | |||||
| Median trans women’s psychological gender affirmation score (IQR), ⍺=0.82, score range 5–25 | 17 (14,20) | 17 (14,20) | 18 (14.5, 20) | 0.53* | 0.59 |
| At risk of clinical depression (score >4 on the 4-item CESD) | 124 (49%) | 81 (49%) | 43 (49%) | 0.001 (1) | 0.97 |
| Interpersonal and social level factors | |||||
| Median HIV stigma score (IQR), ⍺=0.92, score range 0–36 | 11 (4, 18) | 12 (4, 18) | 11 (4, 20) | −0.004* | 0.99 |
| Experiences of transphobia in the past three months (IQR), ⍺=0.93, score range 0–55 | 19 (10, 29) | 19 (9, 30) | 18 (10, 26) | −0.868 | 0.38 |
| Median trans women’s importance of correct pronoun usage score (IQR), ⍺=0.87, score range 5–27 | 21 (16, 25) | 21 (17, 25) | 18 (13, 23) | −2.56* | 0.01 |
| Structural level factors | |||||
| Education | |||||
| Less than high school | 68 (27%) | 38 (23%) | 30 (34%) | ||
| High school graduate | 101 (40%) | 67 (41%) | 34 (39%) | ||
| Technical degree, some college or college degree | 84 (33%) | 60 (36%) | 24 (27%) | 4.09 (2) | 0.12 |
| Income in the past month | |||||
| $0–500 | 111 (44%) | 66 (40%) | 45 (51%) | ||
| $501–1,000 | 98 (39%) | 68 (41%) | 30 (34%) | ||
| $1,001 or more | 44 (17%) | 31 (19%) | 13 (15%) | 2.90 (2) | 0.23 |
| Has health insurance | 217 (86%) | 145 (88%) | 72 (82%) | 1.72 (1) | 0.18 |
| Seen an HIV care provider in the past six months | 207 (82%) | 142 (87%) | 65 (74%) | 6.31 (1) | 0.01 |
| Ever been incarcerated | 193 (76%) | 121 (73%) | 72 (82%) | 2.28 (1) | 0.13 |
| Experienced homelessness in the past six months | 104 (41%) | 55 (33%) | 49 (56%) | 11.84 (1) | <0.01 |
| Engaged in sex work in the past six months | 44 (17%) | 18 (11%) | 26 (30%) | 13.87 (1) | <0.01 |
Notes:
Some percentages are based on denominators smaller than the N listed in the column heading; this is due to missing data.
Abbreviations; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range; CI, confidence interval
Differences in continuous measures were assessed using t-tests or Wilcoxon rank sum tests depending on distributional assumptions. For t-tests the t-statistic and degrees of freedom are reported and for Wilcoxon rank sum tests the z-statistic is reported. These values are denoted with an asterisk.*