General and health-related Internet use among an urban, community-based sample of HIV-positive women

Implications for intervention development

Bibliographic Data

ID19441968
AuthorsOni J Blackstock (0000-0002-2787-1661, corresponding author), Lorlette J Haughton (0000-0001-5933-5276, Yeshiva University), Ruby Y Garner (Preventive Medicine Research Institute), Keith J Horvath (0000-0001-7569-2839, University of Minnesota), Chris Norwood (Preventive Medicine Research Institute), Chinazo O Cunningham (0000-0002-7930-313X, Albert Einstein College of Medicine)
Year2015
Volume27
Issue4
Pages536-544
Publication date2015-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAIDS Care (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-0121 • E-ISSN: 1360-0451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09540121.2014.980215
PMID25411825
PMCIDPMC4312556
OpenAlexW1972611237
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited36

Internet-based HIV interventions are increasingly common, although little focus has been on HIV-positive women. To understand the feasibility of using the Internet to deliver behavioral interventions to HIV-positive women, we sought to describe patterns of Internet use for general and health-related purposes and to explore differences between Internet-using and non-using women. From February 2014 to April 2014, 103 women were recruited at six community-based organizations in the Bronx, NY that provide services to HIV-positive persons. Women completed a 30-minute interview and answered a brief survey of socio-demographic factors, risk behavior and clinical characteristics. We performed χ(2) and Kruskal-Wallis tests to compare Internet users and non-users. Sixty-one percent of participants were current Internet users, most of whom used a personal electronic device (e.g., cellphone/smartphone) to access the Internet. While higher proportions of Internet users were passively engaged (e.g., signed up to receive email updates [42.9%] or watched an online video [58.7%] for health-related purposes), smaller proportions (12.7-15.9%) were involved in more interactive activities such as posting comments, questions, or information about health-related issues in an online discussion or a blog. A majority of Internet non-users (60.0%) expressed interest in going online. Lack of computer or Internet access (37.5%) and Internet navigation skills (37.5%) were the primary reasons for non-use. Compared with non-users, Internet users were more likely to be younger, to have higher socioeconomic status, and to report low health-related social support. Despite having a lower proportion of Internet users in our study than the general population, Internet-using women in our study had relatively high levels of online engagement and went online for both general and health-related purposes. However, Internet-based interventions targeting HIV-positive women will likely need to include providing computer and/or Internet access as well as training participants in how to navigate the Internet

Environmental health · Family medicine · Psychiatry · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Health Literacy and Information Accessibility · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Mobile Health and mHealth Applications · Psychology

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access