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HIV testing and tolerance to gender based violence: a cross-sectional study in Zambia.

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  • 2013-08-31
Published in:
  • PloS one. - 2013
Adolescent
Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Decision Making
Family Characteristics
Female
HIV Infections
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Logistic Models
Male
Mass Screening
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Violence
Young Adult
Zambia
English This paper explores the effect of social relations and gender-based conflicts on the uptake of HIV testing in the South and Central provinces of Zambia. We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study of 1716 randomly selected individuals. Associations were examined using mixed-effect multivariable logistic regression. A total of 264 men (64%) and 268 women (56%) had never tested for HIV. The strongest determinants for not being tested were disruptive couple relationships (OR = 2.48 95% CI = 1.00-6.19); tolerance to gender-based violence (OR = 2.10 95% CI = 1.05-4.32) and fear of social rejection (OR = 1.48 95% CI = 1.23-1.80). In the Zambian context, unequal power relationships within the couple and the community seem to play a pivotal role in the decision to test which until now have been largely underestimated. Policies, programs and interventions to rapidly increase HIV testing need to urgently address gender-power inequity in relationships and prevent gender-based violence to reduce the negative impact on the lives of couples and families.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/53461
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