careclinic_thThe following information is taken from the 2008 Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Household Health Survey conducted by PHMC’s Community Health Data Base. Analysis includes all adults ages 18 and older in the five-county area, except where specified.

1.55 million Number of adults in SEPA who have never been tested for HIV

  • Among adults (ages 18 and older) in Southeastern Pennsylvania, about 54% have never been tested for HIV, representing about 1.55 million adults in SEPA.
  • Just under one in five adults (18.5%)
    in Southeastern Pennsylvania have received an HIV test in the past year. This represents approximately 528,000 adults.
  • On the other side, over eight out of ten adults (81.5%) have not received an HIV test in the past year.

Philadelphia County in Southeastern Pennsylvania with the highest proportion of adults who have been tested for HIV in the past year

Incidence of adults who have received an HIV test in the previous year, by selected demographic characteristics:

By County

  • Philadelphia is home to the highest proportion of adults who have had an HIV test in the past year (28.8%), followed by Delaware (15.9%), Chester (12.0%), Montgomery (11.3%) and Bucks (11.1%) Counties

By Age Group

  • Younger adults are more likely than older adults to have received an HIV test in the past year. Over one-third of adults ages 18–29 (37.6%) had an HIV test in the past year, compared with one-quarter of adults 30–44 (26.2%), 12.1% of adults 45–64 and 5% of adults 65 and older.
  • Those never having had an HIV test (as opposed to past year testing) include: 38.5% of adults 18–29, 29.5% of adults 30–44, 61.5% of adults 45–64, and 86.6% of adults 65 and older.

By Race/Ethnicity

  • Black/African American and Latino adults are more likely to have had an HIV test in the previous year than other racial groups (37.1% and 35.8%, respectively). This compares with 17.8% of Asian adults and 10.7% of white adults who have had a past year HIV test.

18.9% Percent of SEPA men who have had an HIV test in the past year, compared to 18.1% of women


By Gender
  • Men and women in SEPA are about equally likely to have received an HIV test in the previous year (18.9% and 18.1%, respectively).