Street Youth in Toronto, Canada: An Investigation of Demographic Predictors of HIV Status Among Street Youth Who Access Preventive Health and Social Services

Street youth are increasingly at risk for HIV infection due to high-risk sexual behaviors and injection drug use. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which demographic characteristics of street youth in Toronto were predictive of HIV status. Age, gender, and ethnicity, education, length of time street involved, and income were measured among a cross-sectional sample of 18- to 30-year-old street youth (N= 140). Results revealed statistically significant relationships between Age and HIV status (b= 2.413, p < .001, OR= 11.169, 95.0% CI= 3.344–37.303), as well as Ethnicity and HIV status (b= 2.051, p= .005, OR= 7.773, 95.0% CI= 1.836–32.900). Findings suggest that HIV prevention intervention programs may need to be refined or extended appropriately to older street youth in those 26–30 years of age, especially to meet the cultural needs of Black, Aboriginal, and other ethnic homeless youth populations. Further investigation of the duration of street involvement relating to HIV-risk–taking behaviors is necessary.