TITLE:
The Prevalence of Sexual Partner Concurrency Is Not Correlated with Markers of Poverty or Gender Inequality: An Ecological Analysis
AUTHORS:
Chris Kenyon
KEYWORDS:
Concurrency, HIV, Culture, Gender Inequality, Poverty, Prevalence
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.5 No.4,
December
16,
2015
ABSTRACT: High rates of overlapping sexual
relationships (concurrency) are believed to be important in the generation of
generalized HIV epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. Different authors favor
socioeconomic, gender-equity or cultural explanations for the high concurrency
rates in this region. We performed linear regression to analyze the association
between the point-prevalence of concurrency in 15 - 49 years old males and
various indicators of socioeconomic status and gender-equity using data from 11
countries surveyed in 1989/1990. We found no meaningful association between
concurrency and the various markers of socioeconomic status and gender-equity.
This analysis supports the findings of other studies that high concurrency
rates in sub-Saharan Africa could be reduced without having to address
socioeconomic and gender-equity factors.