Newly Homeless Youth STD Testing Patterns Over Time

Abstract

Purpose: To use the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to examine the predisposing and need characteristics of newly homeless youth that are associated with sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing over time. Methods: A longitudinal cohort of newly homeless youth from Los Angeles County (n = 261; ages 12-20 years) were followed for 24 months. Youth were interviewed at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, and asked about their background, housing situation, emotional distress (using the Brief-Symptom Inventory), substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and their STD testing rates. We modeled our longitudinal data using logistic random effects models. Results: Characteristics of homeless youth that were associated with STD testing in our multivariate model included time in study (odds ratio [OR] 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-1.6), age at baseline (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.4), being African-American (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.4-5.3), being from a mixed race/ethnic group (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.3-5.8), self-identifying as a gay/bisexual male (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2-6.9), self-identifying as a heterosexual female (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.7), using amphetamines (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6), and history of having gotten someone/becoming pregnant (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.4-3.9). Youth who lived in an apartment were less likely to have received an STD test than youth who lived in other types of housing (OR .4, 95% CI .2-.9). Sexual risk behaviors such as inconsistent condom use (OR 1.0, 95% CI .6-1.4) and number of sexual partners over past 3 months (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0-1.1) were not predictive of STD testing over time. Conclusions: A need exists for interventions to target young newly homeless youth who engage in high-risk sexual behaviors to increase their STD testing rates and thereby decrease their risk for HIV infection.