Psychosocial vulnerability and HIV/AIDS epidemiological situation among people with hearing disabilities in four towns in Cameroon.

The scientific literature about disabled people has stressed their high exposure to social exclusion and marginalization, linked to ways of thinking and representations about them. In the area of HIV/AIDS, this marginalization, which results in higher levels of self-stigmatization and especially in inequalities in prevention, continues to put disabled people at high risk of HIV infection. The current study, conducted with a socioepidemiological and behavioral approach, included 317 people with hearing disabilities, recruited through purposive sampling combined with a snowball approach. Participants, after providing informed consent in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki, completed a questionnaire and underwent HIV screening. The results showed a high rate of early sexual intercourse and a high prevalence of HIV, associated with their many risk factors and vulnerability. The analysis also revealed that social marginalization, erroneous beliefs, lack of communication and more generally of appropriate prevention adapted to them, a high rate of multiple partners, a low rate of condom use, psychosexual violence, and difficulties in negotiating social relations, particularly those of sexual relations, are the principal factors of vulnerability and risk.