| The objective of this dissertation is to examine HIV testing differences between pregnant African American women and pregnant White women who are residents of South Carolina in the era of the new 2008 HIV testing recommendations released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2004 to 2008, 7673 women in South Carolina completed the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey. The answers these women provided were weighted to represent 281,866 South Carolina women delivering live births from 2004 to 2008. Of these women, 56.48% were White, 31.26% were African American, and 12.25% were Other. In conclusion, the analysis of the PRAMS data indicates that pregnant African American women are tested at higher rates than pregnant White women in South Carolina. The likelihood of HIV test acceptance during pregnancy for African American women is 2.19 times greater than that of White women. Following implementation of the new 2008 HIV testing recommendations for pregnant women, a decrease occurred in HIV testing rates among White pregnant women compared to African American women in South Carolina. |
