Social Determinants of Health Associated with Self-Reported HIV Testing among Women

Background: there currently is lack of knowledge about hiv testing practices in iran. the purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the prevalence of self-reported hiv testing and its associated factors among women.methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted in sanandaj city, located in the west of iran, in 2012. data were collected using self-administered questionnaire including demographics characteristics and the main outcome variable was self-reported hiv testing. the univariate and multivariate logistic regression models using stata software was used for data analysis.results: a total of 1200 women were interviewed during the study (response rate=87.5%). the mean age was 29.67 years (sd: 7.01 years), 49% were aged 28 years or younger, 39.2% were single, 16.9% were pregnant and 60% did not have academic education. the proportion of women that were hiv-tested was, 32.1% (ci 95%: 29.2%, 35.0%). hiv testing was associated with younger age, knowledge of hiv/aids, household wealth, pregnancy, academic education, occupation and duration time of occupation, rating of quality of health services and substance use history in her hus-band.conclusion: the self-reported hiv testing rate among our sample women is 32.1%, lower than the hiv testing rate in other studies. therefore, interventions to expand hiv testing and increase awareness of hiv risk are urgently needed in iran.