Factors Associated with the Separate and Concurrent Experiences of Food and Housing Insecurity Among Women Living with HIV in Canada

Authors
Carmen H. Logie, Ying Wang, Natania Marcus, Angela Kaida, Nadia O’Brien, Val Nicholson, Kath Webster, Tracey Conway, Alexandra de Pokomandy, Mona Loutfy
Publication year
2018
Publication date
2018-04-20
Source
Published online: 20 April 2018 AIDS and Behavior (2018) 22:3100–3110
Region
Canada
Keywords
Black, Canada, Men, Women

Abstract or summary

People living with HIV are disproportionately affected by food and housing insecurity. We assessed factors associated with experiencing food and/or housing insecurity among women living with HIV (WLHIV) in Canada. In our sample of WLHIV (N = 1403) 65% reported an income less than $20,000 per year. Most (78.69%) participants reported food and/or housing insecurity: 27.16% reported experiencing food insecurity alone, 14.26% reported housing insecurity alone, and 37.28% reported experiencing food and housing insecurity concurrently. In adjusted multivariable logistic regression analyses, experiencing concurrent food and housing insecurity was associated with: lower income, Black ethnicity versus White, province of residence, current injection drug use, lower resilience, HIV-related stigma, and racial discrimination. Findings underscore the urgent need for health professionals to assess food and housing insecurity, to address the root causes of poverty, and for federal policy to allocate resources to ameliorate economic insecurity for WLHIV in Canada.