Validity and reliability of the South African health promoting schools monitoring questionnaire.

Health promoting schools, as conceptualised by the World Health Organisation, have been developed in many countries to facilitate the health-education link. In 1994, the concept of health promoting schools was introduced in South Africa. In the process of becoming a health promoting school, it is important for schools to monitor and evaluate changes and developments taking place. The Health Promoting Schools (HPS) Monitoring Questionnaire was developed to obtain opinions of students about their school as a health promoting school. It comprises 138 questions in seven sections: socio-demographic information; General health promotion programmes; health related Skills and knowledge; Policies; Environment; Community-school links; and support Services. This paper reports on the reliability and face validity of the HPS Monitoring Questionnaire. Seven experts reviewed the questionnaire and agreed that it has satisfactory face validity. A test-retest reliability study was conducted with 83 students in three high schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The kappa-coefficients demonstrate mostly fair (κ-scores between 0.21 and 0.4) to moderate (κ-scores between 0.41 and 0.6) agreement between test-retest General and Environment items; poor (κ-scores up to 0.2) agreement between Skills and Community test-retest items, fair agreement between Policies items, and for most of the questions focussing on Services a fair agreement was found. The study is a first effort at providing a tool that may be used to monitor and evaluate students' opinions about changes in health promoting schools. Although the HPS Monitoring Questionnaire has face validity, the results of the reliability testing were inconclusive. Further research is warranted.

Effects of PREPARE, a Multi-component, School-Based HIV and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention Programme on Adolescent Sexual Risk Behaviour and IPV: Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

Young South Africans, especially women, are at high risk of HIV. We evaluated the effects of PREPARE, a multi-component, school-based HIV prevention intervention to delay sexual debut, increase condom use and decrease intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adolescents. We conducted a cluster RCT among Grade eights in 42 high schools. The intervention comprised education sessions, a school health service and a school sexual violence prevention programme. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Regression was undertaken to provide ORs or coefficients adjusted for clustering. Of 6244 sampled adolescents, 55.3 % participated. At 12 months there were no differences between intervention and control arms in sexual risk behaviours. Participants in the intervention arm were less likely to report IPV victimisation (35.1 vs. 40.9 %; OR 0.77, 95 % CI 0.61-0.99; t(40) = 2.14) suggesting the intervention shaped intimate partnerships into safer ones, potentially lowering the risk for HIV.

Factors associated with prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease among adolescents and adults exposed to rifampin-resistant tuberculosis in the household.

BACKGROUND: Understanding factors associated with prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and prevalent TB disease in household contacts of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) may be useful for TB program staff conducting contact investigations. METHODS: Using data from a cross-sectional study that enrolled index participants with rifampin-resistant pulmonary TB and their household contacts (HHCs), we evaluated HHCs age ≥15 years for factors associated with two outcomes: Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and TB disease. Among HHCs who were not already diagnosed with current active TB disease by the TB program, Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection was determined by interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). TB disease was adjudicated centrally. We fitted logistic regression models using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Seven hundred twelve HHCs age ≥15 years enrolled from 279 households in eight high-TB burden countries were a median age of 34 years, 63% female, 22% current smokers and 8% previous smokers, 8% HIV-positive, and 11% previously treated for TB. Of 686 with determinate IGRA results, 471 tested IGRA positive (prevalence 68.8% (95% Confidence Interval: 64.6%, 72.8%)). Multivariable modeling showed IGRA positivity was more common in HHCs aged 25-49 years; reporting prior TB treatment; reporting incarceration, substance use, and/or a period of daily alcohol use in the past 12 months; sharing a sleeping room or more evenings spent with the index participant; living with smokers; or living in a home of materials typical of low socioeconomic status. Forty-six (6.5% (95% Confidence Interval: 4.6%, 9.0%)) HHCs age ≥15 years had prevalent TB disease. Multivariable modeling showed higher prevalence of TB disease among HHCs aged ≥50 years; reporting current or previous smoking; reporting a period of daily alcohol use in the past 12 months; and reporting prior TB treatment. CONCLUSION: We identified overlapping and distinct characteristics associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and TB disease that may be useful for those conducting household TB investigations.

HIV among out-of-school youth in Eastern and Southern Africa: a review.

The overall decline of the HIV epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa conceals how the HIV burden has shifted to fall on areas that have been more difficult to reach. This review considers out-of-school youth, a category typically eluding interventions that are school-based. Our review of descriptive studies concentrates on the most affected region, Southern and Eastern Africa, and spans the period between 2000 and 2010. Among the relatively small but increasing number of studies, out-of-school youth was significantly associated with risky sexual behavior (RSB), more precisely with early sexual debut, high levels of partner concurrency, transactional sex, age-mixing, low sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV risk perception, a high lifetime number of partners, and inconsistent condom use. Being-in-school not only raises health literacy. The in-school (e.g., age-near) sexual network may also be protective, an effect which the better-studied (and regionally less significant) variable of educational attainment cannot measure. To verify such double effect of being-in-school we need to complement the behavioral research of the past decade with longitudinal cohort analyses that map sexual networks, in various regions.

Barriers to HIV testing in Europe: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: In the European Union (EU) and neighbouring countries, HIV/AIDS, of all infectious diseases, has one of the highest morbidity and mortality rates. An estimated 30% of people living with HIV are unaware of their infection, and may therefore not benefit from timely treatment or may transmit HIV to others, unknowingly. Evidence shows that opportunities are being missed to diagnose HIV infections in EU Member States, particularly in regular health care settings. There is a need to better understand the barriers to HIV testing and counselling with the aim to contribute to the decrease of the number of undiagnosed people. METHODS: A systematic review of literature on HIV testing barriers in Europe was conducted, applying a free text strategy with a set of search terms. RESULTS: A total of 24 studies published in international peer-reviewed journals and meeting the review's eligibility criteria were identified. Fourteen studies report on barriers at the level of the patient; six on barriers at health care provider level and seven on institutional barriers referring to the policy level. The barriers described are centralized around low-risk perception; fear and worries; accessibility of health services, reluctance to address HIV and to offer the test; and scarcity of financial and well trained human resources. CONCLUSIONS: Some barriers to HIV testing and counselling have been illustrated in the literature. Nevertheless, there is lack of structured information on barriers considering (i) legal, administrative and financial factors, (ii) attitudes and practices of health care providers and (iii) perception of patients. Such data is critical to improve effectiveness of HIV testing and counselling.

Psychological well-being and socio-economic hardship among AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children in Guinea.

Over the past decade, the effects of AIDS-related parental death on children's socio-economic, educational and psychological well-being have become apparent. Most studies, however, have compared the plight of so-called AIDS orphans with non-orphaned children only. Consequently, such study designs are unable to establish if the AIDS-related cause of death of the parents confers effects additional to those of parent-bereavement. We therefore conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the psychological well-being and socio-economic hardship among 140 non-orphaned children, 133 children orphaned by causes other than AIDS (O) and 124 children orphaned by AIDS (O-A) in Conakry, N'Zerekore and the villages around N'Zerekore, Guinea. Multi-way analysis of variance and multiple (ordinal) logistic regression models were applied to measure the association between the orphan status and psychological well-being, school attendance, economic activities, frequency of going to bed hungry and sleeping commodity. After adjustment for confounding factors, the psychological well-being score (PWS) was significantly lower among AIDS-orphaned children than among O (P<0.001). Additionally, AIDS-orphaned children were more likely to be engaged in economic activities (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.04; 95% CI: 1.45-6.36) and to go to bed hungry on a daily basis (AOR = 2.73; 95% CI: 1.24-6.02) than other orphans. The differences in school attendance and the proportion of children with a bed or couch to sleep between AIDS-orphaned children and O were not statistically significant. This situation calls for sustainable and holistic approaches to ensure the psychological and socio-economic stability of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children.

Acceptability of a Novel Levofloxacin Dispersible Tablet Formulation in Young Children Exposed to Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis.

Levofloxacin is used for the treatment and prevention of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children, but current adult formulations are poorly palatable. A questionnaire administered to caregivers of 27 children taking a novel 100 mg dispersible taste-masked levofloxacin tablet found the new formulation to be more palatable (69%) and easier to prepare (81%) than the adult formulation. This formulation may assist children to better adhere to anti-tuberculous therapy.

Intimate partner violence in early adolescence: The role of gender, socioeconomic factors and the school.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescents is common worldwide, but our understanding of perpetration, gender differences and the role of social-ecological factors remains limited. OBJECTIVES: To explore the prevalence of physical and sexual IPV perpetration and victimisation by gender, and associated risk and protective factors. METHODS: Young adolescents (N=2 839) from 41 randomly selected public high schools in the Western Cape region of South Africa (SA), participating in the PREPARE study, completed a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: The participants' mean age was 13.65 years (standard deviation 1.01), with 19.1% (541/2 839) reporting being victims/survivors of IPV and 13.0% (370/2 839) reporting perpetrating IPV. Girls were less likely to report being a victim/survivor of physical IPV (odds ratio (OR) 0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.57 - 0.92) and less likely to be a perpetrator of sexual IPV than boys (OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.21 - 0.52). Factors associated with perpetration of physical and sexual IPV were similar and included being a victim/survivor (physical IPV: OR 12.42; 95% CI 8.89 - 17.36, sexual IPV: OR 20.76; 95% CI 11.67 - 36.93), being older (physical IPV: OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.08 - 1.47, sexual IPV: OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.14 - 1.62 ), having lower scores on school connectedness (physical IPV: OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.46 - 0.75, sexual IPV: OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.42 - 0.76) and scoring lower on feelings of school safety (physical IPV: OR 0.66; 95% CI 0.57 - 0.77, sexual IPV: OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.40 - 0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Physical and sexual IPV was commonly reported among young adolescents in SA. Further qualitative exploration of the role of reciprocal violence by gender is needed, and the role of 'school climate'-related factors should be taken into account when developing preventive interventions.

A systematic review of interventions for preventing adolescent intimate partner violence.

PURPOSE: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive global health issue affecting adolescents. We reviewed randomized controlled trials of interventions to reduce physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetration and victimization among adolescents. METHODS: PUBMED, CINAHL, Science Direct, EMbase, PsychLIT, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane database were searched for English language papers published up to the end of February 2013. RESULTS: Eight articles reporting on six randomized controlled trials were retrieved. Four interventions contained both school and community components. We found positive intervention effects on IPV perpetration (three studies) and IPV victimization (one study). Compared with the studies with no effects on IPV, the effective interventions were of longer duration, and were implemented in more than one setting. There were quality issues in all six trials. CONCLUSION: Interventions targeting perpetration and victimization of IPV among adolescents can be effective. Those interventions are more likely to be based in multiple settings, and focus on key people in the adolescents' environment. Future trials should assess perpetration and victimization of IPV among male and female adolescents with and without prior experiences with IPV, taking gender differences into account.

A systematic review of the role of school-based healthcare in adolescent sexual, reproductive, and mental health.

BACKGROUND: Accessible sexual, reproductive, and mental healthcare services are crucial for adolescent health and wellbeing. It has been reported that school-based healthcare (SBHC) has the potential to improve the availability of services particularly for young people who are normally underserved. Locating health services in schools has the potential to reduce transport costs, increase accessibility and provide links between schools and communities. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was undertaken. Pubmed, Psychinfo, Psychnet, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science were searched for English language papers published between January 1990 and March 2012 RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies were found which fitted the criteria, of which, all but one were from North America. Only three measured adolescent sexual, reproductive, or mental health outcomes related to SBHC and none of the studies were randomized controlled trials. The remaining studies explored accessibility of services and clinic utilization or described pertinent contextual factors. CONCLUSIONS: There is a paucity of high quality research which evaluates SBHC and its effects on adolescent sexual, reproductive, and mental health. However, there is evidence that SBHC is popular with young people, and provides important mental and reproductive health services. Services also appear to have cost benefits in terms of adolescent health and society as a whole by reducing health disparities and attendance at secondary care facilities. However, clearer definitions of what constitutes SBHC and more high quality research is urgently needed.

Sex work during the 2010 FIFA World Cup: results from a three-wave cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: In the months leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, international media postulated that at least 40,000 foreign sex workers would enter South Africa, and that an increased HIV incidence would follow. To strengthen the evidence base of future HIV prevention and sexual health programmes during international sporting events, we monitored the supply and demand of female sex work in the weeks before, during and after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted three telephonic surveys of female sex workers advertising online and in local newspapers, in the last week of May, June and July 2010. The overall response rate was 73.4% (718/978). The number of sex workers advertising online was 5.9% higher during the World Cup than before. The client turnover rate did not change significantly during (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 1.05; 95%CI: 0.90-1.23) or after (aRR = 1.06; 95%CI: 0.91-1.24) the World Cup. The fraction of non-South African sex workers declined during (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.50; 95%CI: 0.32-0.79) and after (aOR = 0.56; 95%CI: 0.37-0.86) the World Cup. Relatively more clients were foreign during the World Cup among sex workers advertising in the newspapers (aOR = 2.74; 95%CI: 1.37-5.48) but not among those advertising online (aOR = 1.06; 95%CI: 0.60-1.90). Self-reported condom use was high (99.0%) at baseline, and did not change during (aOR = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.16-7.30) or after (aOR = 1.13; 95% CI: 0.16-8.10) the Word Cup. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings do not provide evidence for mass-immigration of foreign sex workers advertising online and in local newspapers, nor a spike in sex work or risk of HIV transmission in this subpopulation of sex workers during the World Cup. Public health programmes focusing on sex work and HIV prevention during international sporting events should be based on evidence, not media-driven sensationalism that further heightens discrimination against sex workers and increases their vulnerability.

Effectiveness of HIV prevention for youth in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized trials.

OBJECTIVE: Systematically assess the effectiveness of HIV-prevention interventions in changing sexual behaviour of young people (10-25 years) in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Three online databases were searched using prespecified terms. Additional articles were identified on websites of international organizations and by searching bibliographies. Randomized and nonrandomized trials of interventions aiming to reduce risk behaviour were included as well as single-arm studies reporting effects of differential exposure to an intervention. Data were extracted independently in duplicate using predefined data fields. RESULTS: Thirty-one studies on 28 interventions met the inclusion criteria, including 11 randomized trials. Difficulties with implementing planned activities were reportedly common and differential exposure to intervention was high. Two hundred and seventeen outcome measures were extracted: 88 early (within 1 year of intervention) and 129 late outcomes (more than 1 year after the end of the intervention). Sex education and condom promotion among youth did not increase sexual behaviour as well as risky sexual behaviour. No positive effects on sexual behaviour were detected either and condom use at last sex only increased among males [relative risk = 1.46; 95% confidence interval = 1.31-1.64]. One study reported a reduction of herpes simplex virus-2, but not HIV incidence. CONCLUSION: There remains a stark mismatch between the HIV burden in youth and the number of attempts to design and test prevention interventions - only two trials report biological outcomes. More effective interventions targeting youth are needed. Attention should go to studying implementation difficulties, sex differences in responses to interventions, determinants of exposure to interventions and perhaps inclusion of other factors apart from HIV/AIDS which influence sexual behaviour.