Table 3. Sexual and relationship characteristics of HIV-positive adolescents by sex.
| Factors | Categories | Female (n = 446) N (%) |
Male (n = 412) N (%) |
Total sample (n = 858) N (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relationship status | Has a boyfriend or girlfriend | 99 (22.1) | 82 (19.9) | 181 (21.0) |
| Sexual Debut | Ever had intercourse (vaginal or anal) | 88 (19.2)*** | 44 (10.7)*** | 130 (15.1) |
| Among sexually active adolescents in relationships | Female (n = 70) | Male (n = 37) | Total sample (n = 107) | |
| Disclosure | Knows own status | 64 (91.4) | 35 (94.6) | 99 (92.5) |
| Knowledge of partner status | Unknown | 36 (50.7) | 26 (70.3) | 62 (57.4) |
| HIV-negative | 24 (33.8) | 9 (27.3) | 33 (30.6) | |
| HIV-positive | 11 (15.5) | 2 (5.4) | 13 (12.0) | |
| Disclosure to partner | Partner knows adolescents is HIV-positive and/or taking ARVs for HIVa | 33 (45.8)*** | 5 (13.5)*** | 38 (34.9) |
| First sexual experience | Age of sexual debutb | 16.19 (1.21)*** | 14.27 (2.75)*** | 15.54 (2.08) |
| Abstinent or male condom use | 55 (76.4) | 31 (83.8) | 86 (78.9) | |
| Unprotected sex | 17 (23.6) | 6 (16.2) | 23 (21.1) | |
| Most recent sexual experience | Abstinent or male condom use | 49 (68.1)* | 32 (86.5)* | 81 (74.3) |
| Unprotected sex | 23 (31.9)* | 5 (13.5)* | 28 (25.7) | |
Note: This table includes the results of a series of chi-square tests with sexual practices or relationship-related factors as an outcome and sex (male/female) as the independent variable. The first two columns display numbers and proportional percentages within groups, the third column displays numbers and shares between groups, that is, among girls and boys. Bold typeface indicates determinants that were significant: ***p ≤ .001, **p ≤ .01, *p ≤ .05.
aHIV-positive adolescents who did not know their status were asked if they had told their boyfriend/girlfriend that they were taking medication.
bAll values displayed are numbers (%) except for age of sexual debut in years. These display mean (SD).