title: Determinants of HIV testing among young people aged 18 - 24 years in South Africa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although recent estimates of the HIV/AIDS burden in South Africa show the particular vulnerability of youth to HIV, HIV testing and its determinants are largely understudied in this age group.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence and determinants of HIV testing among young people aged 18 to 24 years, as part of an evaluation of the impact of loveLife.
  
  
  METHODS
  South Africa's national HIV prevention campaign for young people, on HIV and related risk behaviours. A cross-sectional population-based household survey was conducted using a multistage stratified cluster sampling approach. The total sample included 3123 participants, aged 18-24, 54.6% men and 45.4% women, from four provinces (Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that over half (52.2%) of the youth reported testing for HIV, with more young females (60.1%) testing for HIV compared to their male counterparts (39.9%). In the multivariate analysis, older age, being female, HIV knowledge, having ever talked to the mother or female guardian about HIV and having ever been pregnant or made someone pregnant were found to be associated with testing for HIV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is still room for improving the low proportion of young people who test for HIV. Specific attention needs to be paid to younger males, with lack of HIV knowledge, having never talked to the mother or female guardian about HIV and having never been pregnant or made someone pregnant were less likely to be tested. Outreach at individual and community levels and public health messages targeting these youth should be implemented.
authors.affiliation: HIV/STI and TB (HAST) Research Programme, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa ; Department of Psychology, University of Limpopo, Turfloop, South Africa ; ASEAN Institute for Health and Development, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peltzer
authors.affiliation: HIV/STI and TB (HAST) Research Programme, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matseke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult