Estimating Associations between Social Determinants of Health and HIV Risk among the Transgender Population

Presenter

Riley Janet Burnham

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Chaitra Gopalappa, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A62, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 4 (A61-A80) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Introduction:

The transgender population faces a disproportionately high burden of HIV, with prevalence at 27% for transgender women and 11.8% for transgender men, compared to 0.118% in the general U.S. population [1-3]. Drivers of these disparities include discrimination, healthcare access barriers, economic marginalization, and other social determinants of health (SDOH) [4-8] that increase HIV risk-behaviors  [5-6], [9-11]. However, quantitative estimations of joint SDOH burden and associated HIV risk-behaviors are lacking, hampering the development of effective multi-sectoral interventions. This thesis aims to address these gaps through literature review, data aggregation, and data visualization.

Methods:

The literature review extracted quantitative data on SDOH burden in the transgender population and compared it with the general population's burden using relative risk analysis. The data will be used to generate a network diagram to identify joint associations between SDOH and behaviors.  Data visualization and analyses will be conducted using R-Studio.

Results:

Initial findings reveal significant disparities within the transgender community, particularly among African-American and Hispanic transgender women. These disparities include high relative risks (>5) of incarceration, attempted suicide, unemployment, and homelessness compared to the general population. Such social vulnerability may increase risky behaviors, which will be further explored through network diagram visualizations.

Conclusion:

Marginalization and discrimination can exacerbate social vulnerability exposing transgender individuals to higher risk of HIV. Identifying joint health and social burdens can help inform multi-sectoral intervention strategies to mitigate HIV spread in this marginalized population.

Keywords

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Transgender, Social determinants of health (SDOH), Marginalization, Intervention

Research Area

Engineering

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