Table 2 Outcome measures
Outcome | Questions | Response options | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Knowledge of HIV | Measured using a knowledge scale which combined a set of questions: Knowledge of HIV and AIDS: “Can AIDS be cured?” “Can a person reduce the risk of HIV by having fewer sexual partners?” “Can a healthy-looking person have HIV?” “Can HIV be transmitted from a mother to her unborn baby?” “Can the risk of HIV transmission be reduced by having sex with only one uninfected partner who has no other partners?” “Can a person get HIV by sharing food with someone who is infected?” “Can a person reduce the risk of getting HIV by using a condom every time he/she has sex?” “Can medical male circumcision reduce the risk of HIV infection in males?” “Are there medicines that people with HIV or AIDS can take to help them live longer?” | Yes/ No/ Don’t know | A continuous HIV knowledge variable was created from 10 questions that looked at HIV knowledge, excluding knowledge of PMTCT. Values for the knowledge variable ranged from -9 to 19. A categorical variable for HIV knowledge was created with the following scores: 0 = no / poor knowledge with misconceptions (-9 to 0) 1 =correct knowledge (1 to 19) |
HIV stigmatizing attitudes | A continuous HIV stigma variable was created from six questions that looked at attitudes towards people living with HIV: Questions relating to people living with HIV/AIDS: “If you knew that a shopkeeper or food seller had HIV, would you buy food from them?” “Would you be willing to care for a family member with AIDS?” “If a teacher has HIV but is not sick, he or she should be allowed to continue teaching?” “Would you be willing to share food with someone who has HIV or AIDS?” “Are you comfortable talking to at least one member of your family about HIV/AIDS?” “Would you play with someone who has HIV or AIDS?” | Yes/ No/ Don’t know | Values for the stigma variable ranged from 0 to 6. A categorical variable for HIV knowledge was created with the following scores: Has stigma=0 to 2 (low score) No stigma= 3 to 6 (high score) |
Medical male circumcision | Some men are circumcised. Have you been circumcised? “Who performed the circumcision?”. | Yes/No Medical Doctor/ or Nurse/ Spiritual or religious leader/ Traditional circumciser/ Other/ Don’t know | Restricted to men who have been circumcised A categorical variable for medical male circumcision was created for: 1= performed by doctor/nurse 0= not performed by doctor/nurse |
HIV testing | “Have you ever had an HIV test?” “How long ago did you have your most recent HIV test?” | Yes /No/ Don’t Know | A categorical value was created for “how long ago did you go for your most recent test”: 12 months or less (Recent) and more than 12 months (12 months) |
HIV prevalence | Measured HIV seroprevalence | Negative/Positive |