Table 1.
Baseline characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of qualitative participants in the ASPIRE trial (August 2012–June 2015)
| Malawi |
South Africa |
Uganda |
Zimbabwe |
Total |
p value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | ||
| 38 | (100) | 98 | (100) | 39 | (100) | 39 | (100) | 214 | (100) | ||
| Mean age, years (median, range) | 24.7 | (24, 18–32) | 25.6 | (25, 18–42) | 28.2 | (27, 18–42) | 28.6 | (27, 18–40) | 26.5 | (26, 18–42) | 0.001 |
| Parity > 0 | 38 | (100) | 95 | (97) | 39 | (100) | 39 | (100) | 211 | (99) | 0.31 |
| Currently married | 31 | (82) | 7 | (7) | 28 | (72) | 30 | (77) | 96 | (45) | < 0.001 |
| Completed secondary school | 3 | (8) | 48 | (49) | 1 | (3) | 18 | (46) | 70 | (33) | < 0.001 |
| Had a primary sex partner during the past 3 months | 38 | (100) | 98 | (100) | 39 | (100) | 38 | (97) | 213 | (100) | 0.21 |
| Had same primary partner for last 3 months | 36 | (95) | 96 | (98) | 37 | (95) | 37 | (97) | 206 | (97) | 0.70 |
| Primary partner HIV status | 0.01 | ||||||||||
| HIV Positive | 0 | (0) | 1 | (1) | 0 | (0) | 3 | (8) | 4 | (2) | |
| HIV Negative | 28 | (74) | 59 | (60) | 23 | (59) | 15 | (40) | 125 | (59) | |
| Don’t know | 10 | (26) | 38 | (39) | 16 | (41) | 20 | (53) | 84 | (39) | |
| Had any other sex partners in the past 3 months | 7 | (18) | 9 | (9) | 16 | (41) | 4 | (10) | 36 | (17) | < 0.001 |
| Condom used in the last act of vaginal sex | 10 | (26) | 57 | (58) | 14 | (36) | 20 | (51) | 101 | (47) | 0.005 |
| Menstruation in past 3 months | 32 | (84) | 68 | (69) | 34 | (87) | 36 | (92) | 170 | (79) | 0.01 |
| Vaginal practices to control menstrual bleeding, if menses in past 3 months | |||||||||||
| Tissue/toilet paper/cloth inside the vagina | 6 | (19) | 1 | (2) | 2 | (6) | 4 | (11) | 13 | (8) | 0.02 |
| Tissue/toilet paper/cloth in underwear | 22 | (69) | 1 | (2) | 13 | (38) | 8 | (22) | 44 | (26) | <0.001 |
| Tampon | 0 | (0) | 10 | (15) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 10 | (6) | 0.001 |
| Sanitary pad | 10 | (31) | 62 | (91) | 24 | (71) | 29 | (81) | 125 | (74) | < 0.001 |
| Worried about wearing ring during menses, at enrolment | 8 | (21) | 10 | (10) | 6 | (15) | 1 | (3) | 25 | (12) | 0.07 |