Determinants of Voluntary HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing among Community College Students in the United States

Abstract

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing remains the best public health preventive strategy in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We assessed the factors that determined voluntary counseling and screening/testing for HIV among college students.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a purposeful sample of 189 college students was analyzed using three health belief model (HBM) variables as the theoretical framework.

Results: All the HBM variables were positively associated with intention to test for HIV, and with perceived benefits (p = 0.023) having the strongest association.

Conclusion and Global Health Implications: The results of this study underscore the important factors that predict intention to screen for HIV among college students. Understanding the factors that influence intention for HIV testing is useful in formulating public health policies and in the design of programs and interventions aimed at increasing the number of people who get tested for HIV.

Key words: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) • HIV Testing • Risky Sexual Behavior • Health Belief Model • HIV Counseling • HIV Screening

© 2017 Anwuri et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.