Article Sidebar
Published:
Apr 20, 2016Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
South African national household survey of HIV/AIDS prevalence, behavioural risks and mass media impact-detailed methodology and response rate results
Abstract
Methods. A cross-sectional, national household-based survey was conducted using second-generation surveillance procedures. A complex multistage sampling technique was used to create a master sample of 1 000 census enumerator areas out of a total of 86 000 nationally. Aerial photographs were taken and used to randomly select more than 10 197 households and ultimately 13 518 individuals from a sampling frame of 31 321 people. Phase 1 of the study involved notifying the household residents about the study and collecting key demographic information on respondents aged 2 years and older. This information was used to randomly select up to 3 respondents from each household: 1 adult (25 years and older), 1 youth (15- 24 years), and 1 child (2- 14 years). In phase 2 nurses interviewed respondents and collected oral fluid specimens for HIV testing. In the case of children aged 2 - 11 years, parents or guardians were interviewed, but HIV testing was performed on the selected children. Questionnaire data were anonymously linked with HIV test results.
Results. A total of 9 963 persons agreed to be interviewed and 8 840 were tested for HIV, yielding a response rate of 73.7% and 65.4% respectively. However, only 8 428 (62.3%) HIV test results were correctly matched with behavioural data. The results showed that those tested for HIV did not differ from those not tested in terms of key determinants.
Conclusion. It is possible to use community-based surveys to study the prevalence of HIV in the general population.
