title: Sexual risk behaviour of the first cohort undergoing screening for enrollment into Phase I/II HIV vaccine trials in South Africa.
abstract: We assessed risk behaviour in a heterosexual cohort undergoing prescreening for the first Phase I/II HIV vaccine trials in Soweto. We developed a survey and collected self-reported data from HIV-negative potential volunteers. Of 488 participants, most were single and approximately half were from households with incomes below the poverty level. Males reported higher rates of heavy alcohol use (P < 0.001), marijuana use (P < 0.001) and other recreational drug use (P < 0.01). Males reported more sex partners than females in the previous six months (P < 0.001), as well as more casual/anonymous partners (P < 0.001) and one-night stands (P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses revealed substance use and male gender predicted higher risk behaviours, including <100% condom use with known/suspected HIV-positive partners, having casual/anonymous partners and having more than two partners. For this population, male volunteers may need increased risk-reduction counselling during Phase I/II trials and additional recruitment methods may be necessary to identify high-risk female volunteers for Phase III efficacy trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. kyeen@aya.yale.edu
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Van Niekerk
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Niccolai
authors.forename: O N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Mlungwana
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Holdsworth
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bogoshi
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vardas
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D020010:Heterosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013019:South Africa; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines