Covariates of syphilis and HIV infection in Kenya and Zambia

Shea Rutstein, ORC Macro
Kiersten Johnson, ORC Macro

There have been few national level surveys of STI and HIV prevalence. Even rarer are data that allow a large set of individual and household characteristics to be studied as correlates to HIV prevalence. In two countries the Demographic and Health Survey Program has included blood tests for Syphilis (Zambia) and HIV infection (Kenya) which are linked to a large set of respondents’ characteristics and behavior. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain which characteristics are related to the STI and HIV infection of individuals. After initial bivariate screening, multivariate analyses are performed to eliminate the spurious relationships among the variables. Due account is taken of possible interactions. The discovery of sets of covariates and the elimination of others can serve the needs of HIV and STI reduction, treatment and alleviation programs as well as those estimating levels and trends of HIV and STI prevalence and incidence.