Table 1.
Demographic, Socio-economic, Substance Abuse, and Sexual Behavior Characteristics and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among African Americans aged 18–61 Years (UNC Rural Health Project, North Carolina, 1997–2000, N=320).
| Men (N=115) | Women (N=205) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N* | Weighted %† | N* | Weighted %† | |
| Demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age (years) | ||||
| 18–24 | 6 | 13.2 | 40 | 14.9 |
| 25–29 | 9 | 16.5 | 31 | 13.6 |
| 30–34 | 11 | 7.8 | 34 | 11.5 |
| 35–39 | 36 | 17.3 | 32 | 13.8 |
| 40–44 | 23 | 18.8 | 31 | 20.2 |
| 45–49 | 10 | 8.8 | 19 | 13.5 |
| 50–54 | 7 | 5.5 | 7 | 4.8 |
| 55–61 | 13 | 12.2 | 11 | 7.7 |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married, lives with spouse | 47 | 46.3 | 56 | 37.5 |
| Married, does not live with spouse | 8 | 1.7 | 17 | 4.1 |
| Not married, lives with sexual partner | 16 | 12.8 | 29 | 10.6 |
| Not married, lives alone | 43 | 39.2 | 102 | 47.2 |
| Socio-economic indicators | ||||
| Educational attainment | ||||
| 8th grade or less | 6 | 1.1 | 6 | 1.0 |
| Some high school | 24 | 16.9 | 43 | 17.3 |
| High school graduate or equivalent | 43 | 44.4 | 75 | 37.3 |
| Vocational or trade school | 9 | 9.0 | 13 | 6.2 |
| Some college or 2 year degree | 23 | 21.2 | 50 | 26.0 |
| Finished college | 9 | 6.3 | 14 | 9.5 |
| Master’s or other advanced degree | 1 | 1.1 | 4 | 2.9 |
| Annual household income in past year | ||||
| Less than $12000 | 20 | 11.2 | 56 | 14.8 |
| $12–16000 | 12 | 7.5 | 23 | 11.1 |
| $16–25000 | 25 | 23.7 | 28 | 15.7 |
| $25–50000 | 21 | 25.6 | 43 | 23.7 |
| Over $50000 | 19 | 22.6 | 14 | 8.7 |
| Refused/unable | 18 | 9.5 | 41 | 26.0 |
| Currently unemployed (not working full- or part-time for pay) | ||||
| Yes | 36 | 16.7 | 74 | 26.0 |
| No | 79 | 83.3 | 131 | 74.0 |
| Homeless in past 10 years | ||||
| Yes | 16 | 6.5 | 16 | 3.8 |
| No | 99 | 93.5 | 188 | 95.2 |
| Worried about food for self or family in past month | ||||
| Yes | 25 | 12.7 | 40 | 14.5 |
| No | 90 | 87.3 | 165 | 85.5 |
| Currently receives federal aid (food stamps, welfare) | ||||
| Yes | 29 | 9.6 | 86 | 32.5 |
| No | 86 | 90.4 | 117 | 65.9 |
| Neighborhood safety | ||||
| Safe (feels quite safe or extremely safe from crime) | 33 | 22.6 | 55 | 24.8 |
| Unsafe (feels slightly safe or not at all safe from crime) | 82 | 77.4 | 150 | 75.2 |
| Incarceration history | ||||
| Time since most recent incarceration in past 10 years‡ | ||||
| Never incarcerated in past 10 years | 69 | 71.0 | 184 | 94.6 |
| Prior incarceration: >24 hours 6–10 years ago | 14 | 6.2 | 6 | 1.4 |
| Recent incarceration: >24 hours in past 5 years | 32 | 22.8 | 14 | 3.0 |
| Duration of time incarcerated‡ | ||||
| Never incarcerated in past 10 years | 69 | 71.0 | 184 | 94.6 |
| Short-term incarceration: >24 hours and <1month in past 10 years | 15 | 14.7 | 9 | 1.9 |
| Long-term incarceration: ≥1 month in past 10 years | 31 | 14.3 | 11 | 2.6 |
| Incarceration of recent sexual partners‡ | ||||
| 0 of last 3 partners ever incarcerated >24 hours | 82 | 85.5 | 81 | 47.3 |
| 1 of last 3 partners ever incarcerated >24 hours | 17 | 11.4 | 66 | 29.1 |
| ≥2 of last 3 partners ever incarcerated >24 hours | 14 | 3.1 | 57 | 22.6 |
| Substance abuse history | ||||
| Ever used crack, cocaine, or heroine in past 10 years | ||||
| Yes | 23 | 6.8 | 24 | 5.3 |
| No | 92 | 93.2 | 181 | 94.7 |
| Frequent (≥once weekly) use of 5 daily alcoholic beverages or marijuana in past 10 years | ||||
| Yes | 53 | 34.9 | 52 | 19.9 |
| No | 62 | 65.1 | 153 | 80.1 |
| Sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) | ||||
| Age at first sex (years) | ||||
| 15 or younger | 63 | 47.5 | 78 | 32.0 |
| 16–18 | 42 | 43.3 | 98 | 52.2 |
| 19–29 | 10 | 9.2 | 27 | 14.2 |
| Multiple (≥2) sexual partnerships in past year | ||||
| Yes | 52 | 46.8 | 67 | 25.3 |
| No | 63 | 53.2 | 138 | 74.7 |
| Concurrent sexual partnerships in past year | ||||
| Yes | 45 | 42.9 | 46 | 19.0 |
| No | 70 | 57.1 | 159 | 81.0 |
| Transactional sex in past year | ||||
| Yes | 18 | 5.9 | 13 | 2.9 |
| No | 97 | 94.1 | 191 | 96.1 |
| High-risk sexual partnerships in past year (multiple partnerships or transactional sex)§ | ||||
| Yes | 58 | 49.1 | 73 | 27.8 |
| No | 57 | 50.9 | 131 | 71.3 |
| Self-reported STI|| diagnosis, lifetime | ||||
| Yes | 59 | 48.7 | 100 | 38.0 |
| No | 56 | 51.3 | 104 | 62.0 |
| Self-reported STI|| diagnosis in past year | ||||
| Yes | 15 | 5.3 | 24 | 2.9 |
| No | 98 | 92.7 | 180 | 97.1 |
Totals may not sum to 115 among men or 205 among women due to missing values of some variables.
Weighting accounted for differential sampling probabilities between HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants and yielded estimates generalizable to African Americans aged 18 to 61 years residing in the 13 eastern, rural North Carolina county study area, excluding injection drug users and men who have sex with men.
Incarceration exposure in main analysis (see Table 2).
Sexual behavior outcome in main analysis (see Table 2).
Respondents who reported being diagnosed with gonorrhea, Chlamydial infection, trichomonas, syphilis, or herpes were coded as having an STI diagnosis.