TY - JOUR
T1 - Agents of change
T2 - Comparing HIV-related risk behavior of people attending ART clinics in Dar es Salaam with members of their social networks
AU - Kaaya, Sylvia
AU - Siril, Hellen
AU - McAdam, Keith
AU - Ainebyona, Donald
AU - Somba, Magreat
AU - McAdam, Elspeth
AU - Oljemark, Kicki
AU - Todd, James
AU - Andrew, Irene
AU - Simwinga, Alice
AU - Mleli, Neema
AU - Makongwa, Samwel
AU - Liu, Yuanyuan
AU - Lienert, Jeffrey
AU - Haberlen, Sabina
AU - Smith Fawzi, Mary C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research received funding support through Cooperative Agreement Number 5U2GPS001966 from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yuanyuan Liu was supported by the UTHealth Innovation for Cancer Prevention Research Training Program Pre-or Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant # RP160015) at the time of submission. Disclaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. We extend many thanks to staff and patients at the implementing HIV clinics that made this study possible. We make a special acknowledgment for Dr Gilly Arthur, in memoriam, a central collaborator from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Kaaya et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020/9
Y1 - 2020/9
N2 - The aim of the study is to compare sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial factors, HIV knowledge and risk behaviors of people living with HIV (PLH) and their social network members (NMs) to inform HIV prevention programs that engage PLH as prevention educators in their communities. We compared baseline characteristics of PLH enrolled in an intervention to become HIV prevention Change Agents (CAs) (n = 458) and 602 NMs they recruited. CAs and NMs responded to questionnaires through a computer-driven interface with Audio Computer-Assisted Self Interview (ACASI) software. Although NMs scored higher on socio-economic status, self-esteem and general self-efficacy, they had lower HIV knowledge (AOR 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1–2.1), greater inconsistent condom use (AOR 3.2; 95% CI: 2.4–4.9), and recent experience as perpetrators of physical (AOR 2.5; 95% CI: 1.2–5.1) or sexual (AOR 4.1; 95% CI: 1.4–12.7) intimate partner violence; and as victims of physical (AOR 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0–2.3) or sexual (AOR 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3–3.8) forms of violence than CAs. Higher HIV knowledge and lower sexual risk behaviors among CAs suggest PLH’s potential as communicators of HIV prevention information to NMs. CAs’ training should also focus on improving self-esteem, general self-efficacy and social support to increase their potential effectiveness as HIV prevention educators and enhance their own overall health and well-being.
AB - The aim of the study is to compare sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial factors, HIV knowledge and risk behaviors of people living with HIV (PLH) and their social network members (NMs) to inform HIV prevention programs that engage PLH as prevention educators in their communities. We compared baseline characteristics of PLH enrolled in an intervention to become HIV prevention Change Agents (CAs) (n = 458) and 602 NMs they recruited. CAs and NMs responded to questionnaires through a computer-driven interface with Audio Computer-Assisted Self Interview (ACASI) software. Although NMs scored higher on socio-economic status, self-esteem and general self-efficacy, they had lower HIV knowledge (AOR 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1–2.1), greater inconsistent condom use (AOR 3.2; 95% CI: 2.4–4.9), and recent experience as perpetrators of physical (AOR 2.5; 95% CI: 1.2–5.1) or sexual (AOR 4.1; 95% CI: 1.4–12.7) intimate partner violence; and as victims of physical (AOR 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0–2.3) or sexual (AOR 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3–3.8) forms of violence than CAs. Higher HIV knowledge and lower sexual risk behaviors among CAs suggest PLH’s potential as communicators of HIV prevention information to NMs. CAs’ training should also focus on improving self-esteem, general self-efficacy and social support to increase their potential effectiveness as HIV prevention educators and enhance their own overall health and well-being.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0238240
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0238240
M3 - Article
C2 - 32886666
AN - SCOPUS:85090510780
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 9
M1 - e0238240
ER -