       Document 0418
 DOCN  M9630418
 TI    HIV infection among women undergoing abortion in Montreal.
 DT    9603
 AU    Remis RS; Eason EL; Palmer RW; Najjar M; Leclerc P; Lebel F; Fauvel M;
       Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Montreal General; Hospital,
       Que.
 SO    Can Med Assoc J. 1995 Nov 1;153(9):1271-9. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/96067012
 AB    OBJECTIVE: To determine the seroprevalence and correlates of HIV
       infection in a subpopulation of women of childbearing age in Montreal.
       DESIGN: Anonymous unlinked seroprevalence study. SETTING: Pregnancy
       termination unit in a teaching hospital in Montreal. PARTICIPANTS: Women
       presenting for abortion from July 1989 to June 1993 who resided in
       Quebec and were not known to have HIV infection; 12,017 (99.6%) of
       12,068 eligible women were included in the study. INTERVENTION: HIV
       antibody testing of serum left over from samples obtained for routine Rh
       typing; the same algorithm as for serodiagnostic testing, namely enzyme
       immunoassay (EIA) followed by confirmatory testing of repeatedly
       EIA-reactive samples, was used. OUTCOME MEASURES: HIV serostatus by age,
       marital status, region of residence (metropolitan Montreal versus
       other), country of birth and number of living children. RESULTS: Most
       (84.7%) of the subjects resided in metropolitan Montreal. The median age
       was 27.0 (range 13 to 50) years. The serum samples of 22 women were
       confirmed to be HIV positive, for an overall seroprevalence rate of 1.8
       per 1000 (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 2.8). The seroprevalence rate
       did not vary significantly by age, marital status, region of residence
       or study year. However, it was strongly correlated with country of
       birth: Canada 0.16, Haiti 23.5, HIV-endemic countries other than Haiti
       5.3 and non-HIV-endemic countries other than Canada 0.0 per 1000. The
       seroprevalence rate among women born in Haiti was 147 times higher than
       that among women born in Canada (p < 0.0001). Of the women born in Haiti
       the rate was 3.0 times greater among those who immigrated to Canada in
       1985 or later than among those who immigrated earlier (p = 0.047).
       CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that the HIV
       seroprevalence rate among women in Montreal is strongly associated with
       country of birth, women born in HIV-endemic countries, especially Haiti,
       having the highest rate. These results will help in the development of
       policies regarding HIV antibody testing and prevention of HIV
       transmission in Quebec.
 DE    Abortion, Legal/*STATISTICS & NUMER DATA  Adolescence  Adult  Confidence
       Intervals  Emigration and Immigration  Female  Haiti/ETHNOLOGY  Human
       *HIV Seroprevalence  Middle Age  Pregnancy  Quebec/EPIDEMIOLOGY
       Residence Characteristics  Seroepidemiologic Methods  Support, Non-U.S.
       Gov't  Urban Health  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

