Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Use of Sentinel Surveillance and Geographic Information Systems to Monitor Trends in HIV Prevalence, Incidence, and Related Risk Behavior among Women Undergoing Syphilis Screening in a Jail Setting

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Innovative methods are needed to systematically track the HIV epidemic and appropriately target prevention and care programs in vulnerable populations of women. We conducted sentinel surveillance among women entering the jail system of San Francisco from 1999 to 2001 to track trends in HIV incidence, HIV prevalence, and related risk behavior. Using geographic information software (GIS), we triangulated findings to examine the spatial distribution of risk and disease. A total of 1,577 female arrestees voluntarily screened for sexually transmitted diseases at intake were included. HIV incidence, estimated using the serologic testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion (STARHS), was 0.4% per year (95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 0.1–2.1). HIV prevalence was 1.8% (95%CI = 1.1–2.4). HIV infection was independently associated with age 30 to 39 years compared to all other ages, African-American race/ethnicity vs. non-African-American, and recent injection drug use. Maps showed that the communities in which arrested women reside are also those with the highest concentrations of newly detected female HIV cases, AIDS cases, and clients of substance use programs. The combined strategy of using sentinel surveillance in the jail setting and GIS to map the spatial distribution of disease provides a useful tool to identify patterns of risk in hard-to-reach, vulnerable populations of women.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2005. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  2. San Francisco Department of Public Health. HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report, 2005. San Francisco: HIV/AIDS Statistics and Epidemiology Section; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Pappaioanou M, Dondero T, Petersen L, Onorato I, Sanchez C, Curran J. The family of HIV seroprevalence surveys: objectives, methods, and uses of sentinel surveillance for HIV in the United States. Public Health Rep. 1990;105(2):113–119.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO) (2003) Guidelines for conducting HIV sentinel surveys among pregnant women and the other groups / UNAIDS / WHO Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STZ Surveillance. Geneva, UNAIDS.

  5. Pal BB, Acharya AS, Satyanarayana K. Seroprevalence of HIV infection among jail inmates in Orissa. Indian Journal of Med Research. 1999;109:199–201.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lye NS, Archibald C, Ghazali AA, et al. Patterns of risk behaviour for patients with sexually transmitted diseases and surveillance for human immunodeficiency virus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Int J STD AIDS. 1994;5(2):124–129.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Soto R, Ghee A, Nunez GMR, et al. Sentinel surveillance of sexually transmitted infections/HIV and risk behaviors in vulnerable populations in 5 Central American countries. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2007;46(1):101–111.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Dandona L, Lakshmi V, Sudha T, Kumar G, Dandona R. A population-based study of human immunodeficiency virus in south India reveals major differences from sentinel surveillance-based estimates. BMC Med. 2006;4:31 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-4-31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hien NT, Long HT, Chi PK, et al. HIV monitoring in Vietnam: system, methodology, and results of sentinel surveillance. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 1999;21(4):338–346.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Rutherford G, Schwarcz S, McFarland W. Surveillance for incident HIV infection: new technology and new opportunities. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2000;25(Suppl 2):S115–S119 doi:10.1097/00126334-200012152-00005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Janssen R, Satten G, Stramer S, et al. New testing strategy to detect early HIV-1 infection for use in incidence estimates and for clinical and prevention purposes. JAMA. 1998;280(1):42–48 doi:10.1001/jama.280.1.42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Parekh BS, Kennedy MS, Dobbs T, et al. Quantitative detection of increasing HIV type 1 antibodies after seroconversion: a simple assay for detecting recent HIV infection and estimating incidence. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2002;18(4):295–307.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kaukinen C, Fulcher C. Mapping the social demography and location of HIV services across Toronto neighbourhoods. Health Soc Care Community. 2006;14(1):37–48 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2524.2005.00595.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Pierce SJ, Miller RL, Morales MM, Forney J. Identifying HIV prevention service needs of African American men who have sex with men: an application of spatial analysis techniques to service planning. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2007;(Supplement):72–79.

  15. Barry P, Kent C, Scott K, Snell A, Goldenson J, Klausner J. Optimising sexually transmitted infection screening in correctional facilities: San Francisco, 2003–2005. Sex Transm Infect. 2007;83(5):416–418.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kothe D, Byers R, Caudill S, et al. Performance characteristics of a new less sensitive HIV-1 enzyme immunoassay for use in estimating HIV seroincidence. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2003;33(5):625–634 doi:10.1097/00126334-200308150-00012.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Mertz K, Schwebke J, Gaydos C, Beidinger H, Tulloch SWCL. Screening women in jails for chlamydial and gonococcal infection using urine tests: feasibility, acceptability, prevalence, and treatment rates. Sex Transm Dis. 1997;29(5):271–276 doi:10.1097/00007435-200205000-00004.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Mertz K, Voigt RHK, Levine WJSPMG. Findings from STD screening of adolescents and adults entering corrections facilities: implications for STD control strategies. Sex Transm Dis. 2002;29(12):834–839 doi:10.1097/00007435-200212000-00016.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Fickenscher A, Lapidus J, Silk-Walker P, Becker T. Women behind bars: health needs of inmates in a county jail. Public Health Rep. 2001;116(3):191–196.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ruiz J, Molitor F, Plagenhoef J. Trends in hepatitis C and HIV infection among inmates entering prisons in California, 1994 versus 1999. AIDS. 2002;16(16):2236–2237 doi:10.1097/00002030-200211080-00023.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Maruschak L. HIV in prisons and jails 1997. Washington D.C., US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, 1999, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin publication NCJ 178284.

  22. STD Control Section. San Francisco Sexually Transmitted Disease Annual Summary, 2006. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Department of Public Health; 2007 July.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Cohan D, Lutnick A, Davidson P, et al. Sex worker health: San Francisco style. Sex Transm Dis. 2006;82(5):418–422.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Katz MSSK, Kellogg TA, Klausner JD, Dilley J, Gibson S, McFarland W. Impact of highly active antiretroviral treatment on HIV seroincidence among men who have sex with men: San Francisco. Am J Public Health. 2002;92(9):1387–1388.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Martinez A, Bluthenthal R, Lorvick J, Anderson RNF, Kral A. The impact of legalizing syringe exchange programs on arrests among injection drug users in California. J Urban Health. 2007;84(3):423–435 doi:10.1007/s11524-006-9139-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Welton A, Adelberger K, Patterson K, Gilbert D. Optimal placement of syringe-exchange programs. J Urban Health. 2004;81(2):268–277 doi:10.1093/jurban/jth113.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Rockwell R, Des Jarlais D, Friedman SPTE, Paone D. Geographic proximity, policy and utilization of syringe exchange programmes. AIDS Care. 1999;11(4):437–442 doi:10.1080/09540129947811.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Pettit B, Western B. Mass imprisonment and the life course: race and class inequality in US incarceration. Am Sociol Rev. 2004;69(2):151–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Andrea A. Kim, Jeffrey D. Klausner, Joe Goldenson, Charlotte Kent, Sally Liska & Willi McFarland

  2. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Alexis N. Martinez

  3. Department of Sociology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Alexis N. Martinez

  4. San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA

    Alexis N. Martinez

Authors
  1. Andrea A. Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexis N. Martinez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jeffrey D. Klausner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joe Goldenson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Charlotte Kent
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sally Liska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Willi McFarland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexis N. Martinez.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a cooperative agreement between the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U62/CCU906255).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, A.A., Martinez, A.N., Klausner, J.D. et al. Use of Sentinel Surveillance and Geographic Information Systems to Monitor Trends in HIV Prevalence, Incidence, and Related Risk Behavior among Women Undergoing Syphilis Screening in a Jail Setting. J Urban Health 86, 79–92 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-008-9307-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-008-9307-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation