Karpiak said that of all the 11 components studied, the questions on sexual behavior are the most revealing, and one of the key findings on this population to date.
“This is the first study ever conducted to assess the sexual behaviors of an older population that is living with HIV,” he said. “In our sample,” which he explained represents the current HIV epidemiology in the U.S., “less than one person in four identifies as gay or lesbian (21 percent and 3 percent respectively) and 9 percent as bisexual.”
Karpiak cited the respondents reported sexual activity from the previous three months of study participation: “Half of the subjects reported having no sex, and of those that did, 83 percent reported having oral sex, 60 percent vaginal sex and 39 percent anal sex.”
“This report on sexual behavior is a significant finding,” he said. “Where this virus was once almost exclusively transmitted by male-to-male contact, we now see heterosexual sex as the primary mode of transmission.”
Living in Isolation
To date, there has been no research to investigate what happens to people with HIV as they age and experience typical age-related conditions such as depression, arthritis, hepatitis, neuropathy or hypertension. Nearly all the study volunteers said they had at least one other chronic condition in addition to HIV, and more than three-fourths said they had two or more.
Brennan said those are important statistics as “many of the medications commonly prescribed for these ailments taken by older people can make depression worse.”
With almost 70 percent of the respondents reporting they live alone – and as a group, scoring fairly high on both the loneliness and feeling-stigmatized evaluations — it is not surprising that the psychological well-being of this population is challenged on a daily basis. Many reported limited access to transportation services and little or declining contact with friends and family.
No comments:
Post a Comment