Table 3. Association of demographic and clinical factors with linkage.
| All Pairs (N = 155) | Linked Pairs (N = 108) | Unlinked Pairs (N = 40) | p value* | |
| Gender | ||||
| Seroconverting partner female | 64 (41.3%) | 50 (46.3%) | 11 (27.5%) | 0.041 |
| Median age at enrollment (range) | ||||
| Seroconverting partner | 30 (26–38) | 30 (25–38) | 32 (26–36) | 0.425 |
| HIV-1 infected partner | 31 (25–37) | 30.5 (26–36) | 31 (25–39.5) | 0.935 |
| Time to seroconversion | ||||
| Identified at 3 month visit | 19 (12.3%) | 17 (15.7%) | 2 (5.0%) | 0.101 |
| Months of follow-up before seroconversion | 9 (3–15) | 6 (3–15) | 12 (9–17) | 0.001 |
| Study site location | ||||
| East Africa | 96 (61.9%) | 68 (63.0%) | 23 (57.5%) | 0.572 |
| Southern Africa | 59 (38.1%) | 40 (37.0%) | 17 (42.4%) | 0.572 |
| Behavioral characteristics of seroconverting partner prior to seroconversion | ||||
| Reported sex with HIV-1 infected partnert | 127 (81.9%) | 94 (87.0%) | 28 (70.0%) | 0.027 |
| Reported sex with a non-enrolled partnert | 14 (9.0%) | 2 (1.9%) | 12 (30.0%) | <0.001 |
| Female | 3 (4.7%) | 1 (2.0%) | 2 (18.2%) | 0.081 |
| Male | 11 (12.1%) | 1 (1.7%) | 10 (34.5%) | <0.001 |
| Characteristics of HIV-1 infected partner | ||||
| Enrollment plasma HIV-1 RNA (log10 copies/mL) | 4.6 (4.0–5.1) | 4.7 (4.3–5.1) | 4.0 (3.5–4.8) | <0.001 |
| CD4 count (cells/uL) at visit closest to seroconversion | 379 (281–506) | 364 (255-495) | 369 (307-502) | 0.323 |
| Reported use of antiretroviral therapy at visit prior to seroconversion | 3 (1.9%) | 1 (0.9%) | 2 (5.0%) | 0.178 |
Comparison of linked and unlinked transmission pairs.
t
Calculated for each 3 month period of observation.