New Diagnoses among HIV+ Men and Women in Puerto Rico: Data from the HIV Surveillance System 2003-2014

Describe the age-standardized rates of new HIV diagnoses and compare sex and time disparities using data from the HIV/AIDS Surveillance System in Puerto Rico (PR). The study comprises data of new HIV diagnoses of persons 13 years of age and older in PR reported from 2003-2014. Other variables included were age, sex, and health regions. We computed male to female ratio of new HIV diagnoses and assessed the trends in new HIV diagnoses using the annual percent change (APC) of the age-standardized rates (ASRs). The relative risk (RR) was estimated with 95% confidence intervals using Poisson regression models to assess the risk of new HIV diagnoses. The highest HIV diagnosis rates were observed in the metropolitan area. These rates decreased overall for both sexes for the periods 2007 onward. The risk of getting a new HIV diagnosis was significantly higher among males, ranging from an increased risk of more than 50% to almost 5-fold (p