Factors Associated with Ever Being HIV-Tested in Zimbabwe: An Extended Analysis of the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (2010–2011)

Kudakwashe Collin Takarinda, Lydia Kudakwashe Madyira, Mutsa Mhangara, Victor Makaza, Memory Maphosa-Mutsaka, Simbarashe Rusakaniko, Peter H Kilmarx, Tsitsi Mutasa-Apollo, Getrude Ncube and Anthony David Harries

PLOS ONE, 2016, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Introduction: Zimbabwe has a high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burden. It is therefore important to scale up HIV-testing and counseling (HTC) as a gateway to HIV prevention, treatment and care. Objective: To determine factors associated with being HIV-tested among adult men and women in Zimbabwe. Methods: Secondary analysis was done using data from 7,313 women and 6,584 men who completed interviewer-administered questionnaires and provided blood specimens for HIV testing during the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) 2010–11. Factors associated with ever being HIV-tested were determined using multivariate logistic regression. Results: HIV-testing was higher among women compared to men (61% versus 39%). HIV-infected respondents were more likely to be tested compared to those who were HIV-negative for both men [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.53; 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.27–1.84)] and women [AOR = 1.42; 95% CI (1.20–1.69)]. However, only 55% and 74% of these HIV-infected men and women respectively had ever been tested. Among women, visiting antenatal care (ANC) [AOR = 5.48, 95% CI (4.08–7.36)] was the most significant predictor of being tested whilst a novel finding for men was higher odds of testing among those reporting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the past 12 months [AOR = 1.86, 95%CI (1.26–2.74)]. Among men, the odds of ever being tested increased with age ≥20 years, particularly those 45–49 years [AOR = 4.21; 95% CI (2.74–6.48)] whilst for women testing was highest among those aged 25–29 years [AOR = 2.01; 95% CI (1.63–2.48)]. Other significant factors for both sexes were increasing education level, higher wealth status and currently/formerly being in union. Conclusions: There remains a high proportion of undiagnosed HIV-infected persons and hence there is a need for innovative strategies aimed at increasing HIV-testing, particularly for men and in lower-income and lower-educated populations. Promotion of STI services can be an important gateway for testing more men whilst ANC still remains an important option for HIV-testing among pregnant women.

Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147828 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 47828&type=printable (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0147828

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147828

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().