Satisfaction with medical care among HIV-infected women in rural California

Background: HIV is increasingly affecting rural women, but the research on such women is limited. This study aimed to evaluate satisfaction with medical care of HIV-infected women in rural areas of California. Methods: Retrospective structured interviews with 61 HIV-infected women living in rural areas. Eleven facilities were randomly sampled and all HIV-infected female patients seeking care during 4 months of 2007 were eligible. Results: While 96.9% of women rated the overall services at their facility as ‘good' or better and 89.1% would ‘definitely' recommend their facility to friends, only 17.2% said the staff answered their questions most/all of the time, 28.1% said they are told in advance most/all of the time about treatment procedures they should have, 17.2% reported feeling ‘like an individual with unique needs and concerns' most/all of the time, 6.2% said staff respected their privacy most/all of the time, and 20.4% said staff understood the treatment needs of women most/all of the time. Conclusion: In addition to significant physical and emotional challenges, HIV-infected women in rural areas face challenges in obtaining quality medical care. Possible strategies to improve care, drawn from the literature and current findings, will be discussed.