Facts & Figures, Disability & HIV - HIV/AIDS and Disability Global Survey

Facts & Figures, Disability & HIV

Findings from
Global Survey

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Facts & Figures, Disability & HIV

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	Disability and HIV/AIDS at a glance
	It is estimated that 1 in 7 deaf persons has substance abuse problems, compared with 1 in 10 in the hearing population (J. Peinkofer, HIV Education for the Deaf: A Vulnerable Minority, 1994).
	According to the VIP Peers Program in Rochester, NY, the incidence of alcohol abuse within the deaf community is estimated to be at 35% as compared to 12%-14% incidence among the general population (S. Kennedy and C. Bucholz, HIV and AIDS Among the Deaf, 1995).
	The National Coalition on Deafness and HIV/AIDS estimate that 7,000 deaf people in the United States are infected with the virus and/or full blown AIDS, and there have been 700 deaths so far. These figures are loosely based on mathematical formulas of deafness ration per general population in the USA (one out of ten people), and the number of deaf (200) on the NAMES QUILT Project (S. Kennedy and C. Bucholz, HIV and AIDS Among the Deaf, 1995).
	Estimates of HIV-positive deaf run from 7,000 to as high as 26,000 (in the United States). (D. Van Biema, AIDS, 1994).
	The deaf students had significantly lower scores on the HIV/AIDS Knowledge Index than the hearing students in a study involving 34 deaf undergraduates at Gallaudet University and 46 hearing undergraduates at the University of Maryland Baltimore (K. Heuttel and W. Rothstein, HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Information Sources Among Deaf and Hearing College Students, 2001)
	70% of 204 deaf and hearing impaired adolescents surveyed did not realize that HIV and AIDS can not be contracted by giving blood; 46% were unaware that people who are not gay can get AIDS; and 43% were unaware that all gay people do not have AIDS. In addition, 62% thought that married people can not get AIDS (J. Luckner and B. Gonzales, What Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents Know and Think About AIDS)
	None of the 19 learning disabled men interviewed reported bringing condoms to a sexual encounter or any suggestion that they had negotiated their use (D. Thompson, The Sexual Experiences of Men with Learning Disabilities Having Sex with Men- Issues for HIV Prevention, 1994).
	A study on HIV among the mentally ill reported an infection rate in three inpatient, psychiatric hospitals in New York City that was double the rate in the general population in that same city (H. Goodman, Infection and the Severely Mentally Ill Patients: Risky Behaviors and Risk Reduction, 1991).
	Arnie Jackson and Virginia Wadley found that 30% of the [472] sexually active women in their study were not using birth control after becoming disabled by a spinal cord injury (A. Jackson and V. Wadley, Women's Reproductive Health After SCI, 1999).
	A national survey of disabled women showed that the prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse was not significantly different between a sample of 439 women with a variety of physical disabilities and 421 women with no disabilities. In both groups of women, 62% reported having experienced some type of abuse in their lifetime; about 52% reported experiencing physical or sexual abuse. There was, however a significant difference in the duration of the abuse, with women with disabilities experiencing all three types of abuse for significantly longer periods of time than did women without disabilities (M. Nosek et. al, The Investigation of Abuse and Women With Disabilities, 2001).
	In a survey of 201 physically disabled persons, low discussion rates with health care providers were reported for sexuality (28.4%), STD's (14.4%), contraception (17.9%), and reproductive choices (9.5%). (M. Branigan et. al, Perceptions of Primary Healthcare Services Among Persons with Physical Disabilities. Part 2: Quality Issues, 2001).
	A study on HIV and Mental Illness reports that mentally ill persons appear less likely than the general population to be in a monogamous relationship, engage more often in high risk behaviors, use condoms inconsistently, and are ambivalent regarding both abstinence and reducing the risk of infection with a sexual partner (J. Cates and G. Bond, AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, and Risk Behavior Among People with Serious Mental Illness, 1994).