@article {4393, title = {General and health-related Internet use among an urban, community-based sample of HIV-positive women: implications for intervention development.}, journal = {AIDS care}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Nov 20}, pages = {1-9}, abstract = {Internet-based HIV interventions are increasingly common, although little focus has been on HIV-positive women. To understand the feasibility of using the Internet to deliver behavioral interventions to HIV-positive women, we sought to describe patterns of Internet use for general and health-related purposes and to explore differences between Internet-using and non-using women. From February 2014 to April 2014, 103 women were recruited at six community-based organizations in the Bronx, NY that provide services to HIV-positive persons. Women completed a 30-minute interview and answered a brief survey of socio-demographic factors, risk behavior and clinical characteristics. We performed χ(2) and Kruskal-Wallis tests to compare Internet users and non-users. Sixty-one percent of participants were current Internet users, most of whom used a personal electronic device (e.g., cellphone/smartphone) to access the Internet. While higher proportions of Internet users were passively engaged (e.g., signed up to receive email updates [42.9\%] or watched an online video [58.7\%] for health-related purposes), smaller proportions (12.7-15.9\%) were involved in more interactive activities such as posting comments, questions, or information about health-related issues in an online discussion or a blog. A majority of Internet non-users (60.0\%) expressed interest in going online. Lack of computer or Internet access (37.5\%) and Internet navigation skills (37.5\%) were the primary reasons for non-use. Compared with non-users, Internet users were more likely to be younger, to have higher socioeconomic status, and to report low health-related social support. Despite having a lower proportion of Internet users in our study than the general population, Internet-using women in our study had relatively high levels of online engagement and went online for both general and health-related purposes. However, Internet-based interventions targeting HIV-positive women will likely need to include providing computer and/or Internet access as well as training participants in how to navigate the Internet.}, issn = {1360-0451}, doi = {10.1080/09540121.2014.980215}, author = {Blackstock, Oni J and Haughton, Lorlette J and Garner, Ruby Y and Horvath, Keith J and Norwood, Chris and Cunningham, Chinazo O} }