South Africa has among the
highest rates of HIV infection in the world, with women disproportionately
affected. Alcohol-serving venues, where alcohol use and sexual risk often
intersect, play an important role in HIV risk. Previous studies indicate
alcohol use and gender inequity as drivers of this epidemic, yet these factors
have largely been examined using person-level predictors.
We sought to advance
upon this literature by examining venue-level predictors, namely men's gender
attitudes, alcohol, and sex behavior, to predict women's risks for HIV. We
recruited a cohort of 554 women from 12 alcohol venues (6 primarily Black
African, and 6 primarily Coloured [i.e., mixed race] venues) in Cape Town, who
were followed for 1 year across four time points.
In each of these venues,
men's (N = 2216) attitudes, alcohol use, and sexual behaviors were also
assessed. Men's attitudes and behaviors at the venue level were modeled using
multilevel modeling to predict women's unprotected sex over time. We stratified
analyses by venue race.
As predicted, venue-level characteristics were
significantly associated with women's unprotected sex. Stratified results varied
between Black and Coloured venues. Among Black venues where men reported
drinking alcohol more frequently, and among Coloured venues where men reported
meeting sex partners more frequently, women reported more unprotected sex.
This
study adds to the growing literature on venues, context, and HIV risk. The
results demonstrate that men's behavior at alcohol drinking venues relate to
women's risks for HIV. This novel finding suggests a need for social-structural
interventions that target both men and women to reduce women's risks.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/q0misP
By: Pitpitan EV1,2,3, Kalichman SC4,5, Eaton LA6, Sikkema KJ7, Watt MH7, Skinner D8, Pieterse D8.
- 1Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. epitpitan@ucsd.edu.
- 2Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. epitpitan@ucsd.edu.
- 3Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 2006 Hillside Rd, Unit 1248, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA. epitpitan@ucsd.edu.
- 4Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. seth.k@uconn.edu.
- 5Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 2006 Hillside Rd, Unit 1248, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA. seth.k@uconn.edu.
- 6Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
- 7Duke University, Trinity, NC, USA.
- 8Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
- Prev Sci. 2016 Jan 15.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
No comments:
Post a Comment