Social Contact Structures and Time Use Patterns in the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patterns of person-to-person contacts relevant for infectious diseases transmission are still poorly quantified in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where socio-demographic structures and behavioral attitudes are expected to be different from those of more developed countries.

Methods and findings

We conducted a diary-based survey on daily contacts and time-use of individuals of different ages in one rural and one peri-urban site of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. A total of 2,490 diaries were collected and used to derive age-structured contact matrices, to analyze time spent by individuals in different settings, and to identify the key determinants of individuals' mixing patterns. Overall 10.8 contacts per person/day were reported, with a significant difference between the peri-ur

SUBMITTER: Melegaro A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5242544 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature