Table 3. Characteristics of women living with HIV in the ELLA study.
| Global N = 1931 | WEC N = 760 | CEE N = 532 | LA N = 519 | China N = 120 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age (years) | 40.1 ± 11.4 | 44.0 ± 10.8 | 33.2 ± 9.8 | 42.2 ± 11.1 | 37.7 ± 8.4 |
| Risk factor for acquiring HIV | |||||
| Sexual contact | 1602 (83.0) | 647 (85.1) | 371 (69.7) | 502 (96.7) | 82 (68.3) |
| Intravenous drug user | 150 (7.8) | 79 (10.4) | 63 (11.8) | 4 (0.8) | 4 (3.3) |
| Blood transfusion or organ transplant | 126 (6.5) | 20 (2.6) | 66 (12.4) | 10 (1.9) | 30 (25.0) |
| Mother to child transmission | 20 (1.0) | 11 (1.4) | 4 (0.8) | 3 (0.6) | 2 (1.7) |
| Other | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | – | – | 1 (0.8) |
| Unknown | 31 (1.6) | 2 (0.3) | 28 (5.3) | – | 1 (0.8) |
| Immigration status | |||||
| Not immigrant | 1521 (78.8) | 436 (57.4) | 507 (95.3) | 458 (88.2) | 120 (100) |
| Immigrant for <1 year | 7 (0.4) | 3 (0.4) | – | 4 (0.8) | – |
| Immigrant for 1–5 years | 64 (3.3) | 56 (7.4) | 4 (0.8) | 4 (0.8) | – |
| Immigrant for >5 years | 339 (17.6) | 265 (34.9) | 53 (10.2) | 53 (10.2) | – |
| Residence | |||||
| Rural area | 330 (17.1) | 134 (17.6) | 137 (25.8) | 26 (5.0) | 33 (27.5) |
| Urban area | 1601 (82.9) | 626 (82.4) | 395 (74.2) | 493 (95.0) | 87 (72.5) |
| Legally married | |||||
| No | 1151 (59.6) | 460 (60.5) | 321 (60.3) | 347 (66.9) | 23 (19.2) |
| Yes | 780 (40.4) | 300 (39.5) | 211 (39.7) | 172 (33.1) | 97 (80.8) |
| Living status | |||||
| Living alone | 415 (21.5) | 223 (29.3) | 96 (18.0) | 71 (13.7) | 25 (20.8) |
| Not living alone | 1516 (78.5) | 537 (70.7) | 436 (82.0) | 448 (86.3) | 95 (79.2) |
| Partner HIV status for women living with partner | |||||
| HIV-negative | 513 (48.1) | 226 (59.5) | 149 (40.8) | 93 (39.1) | 45 (53.6) |
| HIV-positive | 487 (45.6) | 134 (35.3) | 191 (52.3) | 128 (53.8) | 34 (40.5) |
| Unknown | 67 (6.3) | 20 (5.3) | 25 (6.8) | 17 (7.1) | 5 (6.0) |
| Regular support from family or friends | |||||
| No | 770 (39.9) | 373 (49.1) | 123 (23.1) | 222 (42.8) | 52 (43.3) |
| Yes | 1161 (60.1) | 387 (50.9) | 409 (76.9) | 297 (57.2) | 68 (56.7) |
| Disclosure of HIV status | |||||
| No disclosure or disclosed to intimate relations | 1686 (87.3) | 643 (84.6) | 477 (89.7) | 450 (86.7) | 116 (96.7) |
| Complete or extended disclosure | 243 (12.6) | 115 (15.1) | 55 (10.3) | 69 (13.3) | 4 (3.3) |
| Missing | 2 (0.1) | 2 (0.3) | – | – | – |
| Payment method for HIV treatment | |||||
| Government or private insurance | 1774 (91.9) | 742 (97.6) | 529 (99.4) | 471 (90.8) | 32 (26.7) |
| Combination of government and/or private and/or out-of-pocket | 61 (3.2) | 6 (0.8) | – | – | 55 (45.8) |
| Self-pay, out-of-pocket | 92 (4.8) | 11 (1.4) | 1 (0.2) | 47 (9.1) | 33 (27.5) |
| Not available | 4 (0.2) | 1 (0.1) | 2 (0.4) | 1 (0.2) | – |
| Years of formal education completed | |||||
| ≤12 | 1256 (65.0) | 429 (56.4) | 356 (66.9) | 375 (72.3) | 96 (80.0) |
| >12 | 647 (33.5) | 304 (40.0) | 176 (33.1) | 143 (27.6) | 24 (20.0) |
| Not available | 28 (1.5) | 27 (3.6) | 0 | 1 (0.2) | 0 |
| Current primary occupation | |||||
| Employed/self-employed | 1014 (52.5) | 399 (52.5) | 253 (47.6) | 287 (55.3) | 75 (62.5) |
| Retired | 157 (8.1) | 79 (10.4) | 31 (5.8) | 44 (8.5) | 3 (2.5) |
| Student | 64 (3.3) | 34 (4.5) | 19 (3.6) | 11 (2.1) | – |
| Unemployed | 696 (36.0) | 248 (32.6) | 229 (43.0) | 177 (34.1) | 42 (35.0) |
| Time unemployed (months) | |||||
| ≤12 months | 114 (5.9) | 39 (5.1) | 33 (6.2) | 35 (6.7) | 7 (5.8) |
| >12 months | 582 (30.1) | 209 (27.5) | 196 (36.8) | 142 (27.4) | 35 (29.2) |
| Mean number of children* | 1.4 ± 1.4 | 1.4 ± 1.4 | 0.9 ± 0.9 | 1.9 ± 1.6 | 1.0 ± 1.0 |
| Time from HIV diagnosis to enrollment (years) | |||||
| <1 | 118 (6.1) | 20 (2.6) | 29 (5.5) | 37 (7.1) | 32 (26.7) |
| 1–5 | 617 (32.0) | 171 (22.5) | 214 (40.2) | 173 (33.3) | 59 (49.2) |
| >5–10 | 485 (25.1) | 170 (22.4) | 154 (29.0) | 142 (27.4) | 19 (15.8) |
| >10 | 633 (32.8) | 359 (47.2) | 129 (24.3) | 140 (27.0) | 5 (4.2) |
| Unknown | 78 (4.0) | 40 (5.3) | 6 (1.1) | 27 (5.2) | 5 (4.2) |
| Use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) | |||||
| Never used ART | 157 (8.1) | 34 (4.5) | 64 (12.0) | 42 (8.1) | 17 (14.2) |
| Used or currently using ART | 1774 (91.9) | 726 (95.5) | 468 (88.0) | 477 (91.9) | 103 (85.8) |
| Last viral load (copies/mL) | |||||
| <400 | 1277 (66.1) | 631 (83.0) | 272 (51.1) | 317 (61.1) | 57 (47.5) |
| ≥400 | 361 (18.7) | 70 (9.2) | 189 (35.3) | 91 (17.5) | 11 (9.2) |
| Unknown | 293 (15.2) | 59 (7.8) | 71 (13.3) | 111 (21.4) | 52 (43.3) |
| Last CD4 + (cells/mm3) | |||||
| <200 | 209 (10.8) | 48 (6.3) | 75 (14.1) | 65 (12.5) | 21 (17.5) |
| 201–350 | 286 (14.8) | 88 (11.6) | 96 (18.0) | 81 (15.6) | 21 (17.5) |
| 351–500 | 408 (21.1) | 136 (17.9) | 143 (26.9) | 92 (17.7) | 37 (30.8) |
| >500 | 982 (50.9) | 487 (64.1) | 215 (40.4) | 249 (48.0) | 31 (25.8) |
| Unknown | 46 (2.4) | 1 (0.1) | 3 (0.6) | 32 (6.2) | 10 (8.3) |
Plus-minus values are means ± SD.
*For mean number of children, N = 119 for China, N = 531 for CEE, N = 512 for LA, N = 744 for WEC, and N = 1906 for the global population.