Does Partner Selection Mediate the Relationship Between School Attendance and HIV/Herpes Simplex Virus-2 Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa: An Analysis of HIV Prevention Trials Network 068 Data.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:School attendance prevents HIV and herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) in adolescent girls and young women, but the mechanisms to explain this relationship remain unclear. Our study assesses the extent to which characteristics of sex partners, partner age, and number mediate the relationship between attendance and risk of infection in adolescent girls and young women in South Africa. DESIGN:We use longitudinal data from the HIV Prevention Trials Network 068 randomized controlled trial in rural South Africa, where girls were enrolled in early adolescence and followed in the main trial for more than 3 years. We examined older partners and the number of partners as possible mediators. METHODS:We used the parametric g-formula to estimate 4-year risk differences for the effect of school at

SUBMITTER: Stoner MCD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6092209 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature