Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: AIDS Behav. 2014 Jul;18(7):1224–1236. doi: 10.1007/s10461-013-0629-3

Table 1.

Characteristics of 572 women included in the study population, stratified by sex of the household head and food security status, Tanzania, 2010

Characteristic Total Household status Food security status in the last 30 days


Female headed Male headed Food secure Some FIa Severe FIb






N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%)
Total 572 (100) 266 (100) 306 (100) 387 (100) 86 (100) 99 (100)
Age (mean, SD) 37.4 (11.7) 37.8 (11.6) 37.1 (11.7) 36.7 (11.5) 38.7 (11.7) 39.4 (12.3)
Age category
  ≤30 years 178 (31.1) 74 (27.8) 104 (34.0) 131 (33.9) 23 (26.7) 24 (24.2)
  31–40 years 208 (36.4) 105 (39.5) 103 (33.7) 132 (34.1) 33 (38.4) 43 (43.4)
  41–50 years 119 (20.8) 56 (21.1) 63 (20.6) 86 (22.2) 17 (19.8) 16 (16.2)
  >50 years 67 (11.7) 31 (11.7) 36 (11.8) 38 (9.8) 13 (15.1) 16 (16.2)
Female headed household 266 (46.5) 177 (45.7) 49 (57.0) 40 (40.4)
Marital status
  Married 331 (57.9) 90 (33.8) 241 (78.8) 220 (56.8) 46 (53.5) 65 (65.7)
  Informal union 107 (18.7) 52 (19.6) 55 (18.0) 83 (21.4) 13 (15.1) 11 (11.1)
  Widow 29 (5.1) 28 (10.5) 1 (0.3) 17 (4.4) 5 (5.8) 7 (7.1)
  Divorced or separated 61 (10.7) 56 (21.1) 5 (1.6) 32 (8.3) 17 (19.8) 12 (12.1)
  Never married 44 (7.7) 40 (15.0) 4 (1.3) 35 (9.0) 5 (5.8) 4 (4.0)
Currently in a sexual relationship with a regular partner 522 (91.3) 237 (89.1) 285 (93.1) 364 (94.1) 76 (88.4) 82 (82.8)
Education
  No education 72 (12.6) 33 (12.4) 39 (12.8) 42 (10.9) 10 (11.6) 20 (20.2)
  Less than primary school 65 (11.4) 36 (13.5) 29 (9.5) 39 (10.1) 10 (11.6) 16 (16.2)
  Completed primary school (Standard 7) 390 (68.3) 176 (66.2) 214 (70.2) 266 (68.9) 63 (73.3) 61 (61.6)
  More than primary school 44 (7.7) 21 (7.9) 23 (7.5) 39 (10.1) 3 (3.5) 2 (2.0)
Household owns main dwelling 496 (86.7) 216 (81.2) 280 (91.5) 327 (84.5) 73 (84.9) 96 (97.0)
Floor of main dwelling
  Earth, mud, straw 399 (69.8) 198 (74.4) 201 (65.7) 248 (64.1) 66 (76.7) 85 (85.9)
  Concrete 168 (29.4) 65 (24.4) 103 (33.7) 134 (34.6) 20 (23.3) 14 (14.1)
  Other 5 (0.9) 3 (1.1) 2 (0.7) 5 (1.3) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Household ever received voucher for agricultural subsidy program 197 (34.4) 95 (35.7) 102 (33.3) 136 (35.1) 28 (32.6) 33 (33.3)
Household size (mean, SD) 5.3 (2.1) 4.8 (2.0) 5.7 (2.1) 5.1 (2.1) 5.3 (2.1) 5.7 (2.1)
Monthly per capita expenditures (TSH, mean, SD) 27,624 (35,318) 25,337 (29,768) 29,612 (39,455) 28,812 (36,609) 18,832 (19,466) 30,618 (39,720)
Asset index (quartile)
  1st (lowest) 143 (25.0) 86 (32.3) 57 (18.6) 87 (22.5) 26 (30.2) 30 (30.3)
  2nd 143 (25.0) 83 (31.2) 60 (19.6) 82 (21.2) 31 (36.0) 30 (30.3)
  3rd 143 (25.0) 58 (21.8) 85 (27.8) 95 (24.6) 22 (25.6) 26 (26.3)
  4th (highest) 143 (25.0) 39 (14.7) 104 (34.0) 123 (31.8) 7 (8.1) 13 (13.1)
Total land owned by household (acres) 4.5 (6.0) 3.9 (3.9) 5.0 (7.4) 4.7 (7.0) 4.3 (3.6) 3.6 (3.0)
Food security in last 30 days
  Food secure 387 (67.7) 177 (66.5) 210 (68.6)
  Some FI 86 (15.0) 49 (18.4) 37 (12.1)
  Severe FI 99 (17.3) 40 (15.0) 59 (19.3)
Entered into or stayed in a relationship because of material goods 86 (15.5) 54 (20.9) 32 (10.8) 55 (14.5) 13 (15.7) 18 (19.4)
Could ask partner to use condomc 253 (48.9) 149 (53.1) 104 (37.0) 188 (51.9) 39 (52.0) 26 (32.5)
Sexual relationship power score (mean, SD)d 2.5 (0.4) 2.5 (0.3) 2.5 (0.4) 2.5 (0.4) 2.4 (0.3) 2.4 (0.3)

FI food insecurity, SD standard deviation

a

In the last 30 days, “sometimes” worrying about food access (three to ten times in the last month) or “sometimes” not being able to eat preferred foods

b

In the last 30 days, having at least one household member go to bed hungry, “often” (more than ten times in the last month) worrying about food supply, or “often” not being able to eat preferred foods due to a lack of resources

c

Limited to the 522 women currently in a sexual relationship with a regular or steady partner

d

Sexual relationship power score was available for 532 (93 %) women reporting a main or regular sexual partner in the last 12 months