MAINTENANCE OF SAFE SEX BEHAVIOR BY HIV-SERODISCORDANT HETERO SEXUAL COUPLES.

The article presents information on the findings from a prospective study of heterosexual HIV transmission in stable New Jersey couples who are serodiscordant for HIV and in which the uninfected partner is at risk solely from heterosexual contact. The subjects of the study were 131couples. Demographic variables evaluated during the study included education level, current employment status, ethnic background and place of birth, household income, positive partner's source of infection, number of children and age of woman's youngest child. This study report describes couples' sexual behavior before and after knowledge of infective risk and examines associations of behavior with clinical and demographic characteristics. It was observed that HIV serodiscordant couples' habitual sexual practices, drug and alcohol use, and measure of psychological distress may predict difficulty in adopting and maintaining safe sex and an understanding of common risky sexual behavior patterns and characteristic correlates of risk taking may prove useful for counseling individuals at risk and theft infected partners and may contribute to the development of effective public health messages targeted to eliminate unsafe sexual contact.