Self-reported diagnosis of autism is associated with a lower likelihood of HIV testing

Abstract

Sexuality and sexual risk behaviors among autistic adults is often overlooked, resulting in inadequate sexual education courses and a reliance on peers or the internet as primary sources of information. Here, we plan to begin to fill this gap by assessing HIV and STI outcomes among autistics adults. Data come from the 2007 NHIS dataset, the only nationally-representative and publicly available dataset to host measures of HIV and autism alongside one another (and the only year of this survey to do so). Survey-weighted models were used to examine the association between self-reported measures of HIV/STIs and self-reported autism diagnosis. Compared to those who had not been told they have autism, participants with an autism diagnosis had lower odds of ever having an HIV test in their lifetime (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01, 0.26). No association was observed between autism diagnosis and plans for an HIV test within the next year, nor did any autistic adults report testing positive for any STI within the past five years . These results suggest that further research is needed among the ASD community, particularly in terms of achieving the U.S. goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.