Relationship between socioeconomic status and HIV infection: findings from a survey in the Free State and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa

Background
Studies have shown a mixed association between socioeconomic status [SES] and prevalent HIV infection across and within settings in sub-Saharan Africa. In general, the relationship between years of formal education and HIV infection changed from a positive to a negative association with maturity of the HIV epidemic. Our objective was to determine the association between SES and HIV in women of reproductive age in the Free State [FSP] and Western Cape Provinces [WCP] of South Africa [SA].
Study design
Cross sectional
Setting
South Africa
Methods
We conducted secondary analysis on 1906 women of reproductive age from a 2007-2008 survey that evaluated effectiveness of Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission programs. SES was measured by household wealth quintiles, years of formal education and employment status. Our analysis principally utilized logistic regression for survey data.
Results
There was a significant negative trend between prevalent HIV infection and ...