Concerns Among The HIV-Positive Asians: A Data-Mining Analysis In Gender Comparison

BackgroundAsians are “a forgotten population” whose HIV prevention and treatment needs have long been ignored. Studies on people living with HIV/AIDS have primarily reported on physical and psychological conditions among men and gender minorities. In this study, we used data-mine to select words and word patterns from 45 in-depth interviews with HIV-positive Asian men and women in San Francisco, Shanghai, Beijing, and Taipei and included 33 HIV-positive women and 12 HIV-positive men.ResultAmong these 33 HIV-positive women, all of them contract HIV through heterosexual behavior. For those HIV-positive men, all of them contact HIV via male-to-male sexual contact. We also specifically analyzed gender-based data (male vs. female) within the responses, since men and women experience HIV differently. For women, family relationships and financial burdens were discussed most often. For men, disclosure was the key concern, especially their sexual preference and followed by concerns over what people were saying about them in the community.ConclusionFuture interventions should consider how gender role influences self-management strategies and should suggest how support can be targeted to achieve a better quality of life for HIV-positive individuals.