Investigating the Moderating Role of Food Security on Group Session Attendance of an HIV/STI Intervention for Black Women Under Community Supervision

Abstract: Background. Empowering African-American Women on the Road to Health (E-WORTH) is a five-session, culturally-tailored, group-based intervention with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing HIV/STI risk among Black women under community supervision. This study aims to examine the moderating effect of food security on STI prevalence among participants who attended group sessions. Methods. We fit modified Poisson regression models to examine the effectiveness of group sessions on reducing cumulative STI incidence and explored the moderating effect of food security in models. Results. Compared with those in the control arm, E-WORTH participants who attended all group sessions and were food-secure had a 77% reduction in STIs (p<.05). Findings were not statistically significant among food-insecure participants. Conclusion. Results indicate the importance of food security in enhancing the effectiveness of E-WORTH’s group-based intervention. Additional research about mediators of group modality and the importance of meeting basic needs is needed to improve E-WORTH implementation.