title: Relationships between poverty and AIDS Illness in South Africa: an investigation of urban and rural households in KwaZulu-Natal.
abstract: The association between poverty and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa remains contested. A better understanding of the relationship between the prevalence of poverty and the disease is essential for addressing prevention, treatment, and care. The present study interrogates this relationship, using a cross-sectional survey of 2477 households in urban and rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Structural equation modelling was employed to estimate the correlations between poverty and AIDS illness. The analysis revealed a correlation of rpb= 0.23, denoting that a higher level of household poverty was associated with a higher likelihood of being AIDS-unwell. Post hoc t-test showed that receipt of a disability grant by AIDS-affected households was associated with significantly lower poverty, compared to AIDS-affected households not receiving the grant, t(654) = 3.67, p < .01. Geographic location was found to confound the correlation: the strength of the relationship between poverty and AIDS was decreased to rpb= 0.15 (p < .001) for the urban and rpb= 0.16 (p < .001) for the rural sub-population. Findings suggest the importance of two sets of policies: those that address the potential upstream risk of poverty through economic interventions, and those that alleviate the impoverishing effects of AIDS illness for affected households.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Policy and Intervention , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: Janina Isabel
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Steinert
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Policy and Intervention , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cluver
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Policy and Intervention , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Melendez-Torres
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Policy and Intervention , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: Rocio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Herrero Romero
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011203:Poverty; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012424:Rural Population; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: HIV/AIDS; poverty; poverty measurement; structural equation modelling; verbal autopsy