title: Partner Characteristics Associated With HIV Acquisition Among Youth in Rakai, Uganda.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  HIV risk is influenced by multiple factors including the behaviors and characteristics of sexual partners. We examined the association between partner characteristics and HIV acquisition among young people in rural Uganda, controlling for individual-level risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used self-reported data from 15- to 24-year-olds (n = 1969 male participants and n = 2826 female participants) from a population-based cohort (2005-2011) in Rakai, Uganda. Respondents could report characteristics for up to 4 sexual partners in the last year. Poisson regression was used to estimate HIV incidence rate ratios (IRRs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In regression analyses controlling for marital status, young women's risk of HIV acquisition increased if their partner was a truck driver, drank alcohol before sex, and used condoms inconsistently. In young men, the risk of HIV acquisition increased with partners who were not enrolled in school, in partnerships with higher coital frequency, and in partnerships where respondents were unable to assess the HIV risk of their partner. Mixed-model regressions adjusting for respondent's individual-level risk factors showed that young women's risk of HIV acquisition increased with each nonmarital sexual partner [IRR: 1.54 (1.20 to 1.98)], each partner who drank alcohol before sex [IRR: 1.60 (1.11 to 2.32)], and each partner who used condoms inconsistently [IRR: 1.99 (1.33 to 2.98)]. Among young men, having nonmarital partnerships increased HIV acquisition [IRR for each partner: 1.54 (1.20 to 1.98)].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Partner characteristics predicted HIV acquisition among youth. HIV prevention programs should emphasize awareness of partner's risk characteristics to avoid high-risk relationships.
authors.affiliation: *Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY; †Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; ‡Rakai Health Sciences Program, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda; and §Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Sanyukta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nalugoda
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lutalo
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wawer
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serwadda
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Santelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012424:Rural Population; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D014454:Uganda; D055815:Young Adult