Male circumcision, attitudes to HIV prevention and HIV status: a cross-sectional study in Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the participating youth aged 15–29 years in each country.

	Weighted percentage (fraction) with characteristic
Characteristic	Botswana	Namibia	Swaziland
Age
15–19 years	26.3 (653/2510)	51.4 (1379/2676)	40.6 (917/2278)
20–24 years	43.0 (1081/2510)	30.8 (819/2676)	33.0 (758/2278)
25–29 years	30.7 (776/2510)	17.9 (478/2676)	26.4 (603/2278)
Female	65.0 (1629/2510)	60.8 (1633/2676)	56.3 (1287/2278)
Above primary education	87.0 (2176/2501)	80.9 (2181/2664)	71.7 (1623/2227)
Had enough food in last week	70.9 (1775/2500)	83.8 (2244/2671)	68.6 (1564/2257)
Married or cohabiting	20.1 (509/2502)	16.0 (408/2672)	22.0 (490/2262)

Table 2. Reported rates of MC among young men aged 15–29 years.

	Weighted percentage (fraction)
Reported by	Had MC	Those with MC who had MC as infant or child
Young men
All three countries	15.8 (450/2895)	85.0 (341/406)
Botswana	11.0 (97/878)	74.6 (65/88)
Namibia	27.6 (273/1035)	93.6 (226/243)
OtjiHerero speaking	96.3 (76/79)	100 (64/64)
Speaking other languages	22.0 (197/952)	91.4 (162/179)
Swaziland	7.8 (80/982)	67.7 (50/75)
Young women^a (reporting about main sexual partner)
All three countries	20.0 (758/3816)
Botswana	14.6 (217/1473)
Namibia	32.9 (387/1218)
OtjiHerero speaking	95.2 (101/106)
Speaking other languages	26.9 (285/1109)
Swaziland	13.4 (154/1125)
^aThe young women reported on the circumcision status of their main sexual partner. Some 11.2% (423/3816) of young women did not know the circumcision status of their main sexual partner. The table shows the proportions of young women who were definite that their partner was circumcised, among those who had a partner. Those who did not know the MC status of their partner were grouped with those that said their partner was not circumcised. Many women who said their main partner was circumcised could not say at what age he had been circumcised.

Table 3. Intentions about male circumcision among young men and women aged 15–29 years.

	Weighted percentage (fraction) of respondents
	Botswana	Namibia	Swaziland	All countries
Uncircumcised young men who plan to have MC	46.0 (358/780)	34.9 (267/764)	51.2 (465/901)	44.7 (1090/2445)
Young women with uncircumcised partners who plan to ask partners to have MC	48.3 (610/1258)	41.3 (357/868)	50.2 (503/1005)	47.1 (1470/3131)
Young men who plan to have sons circumcised	63.5 (552/865)	65.5 (668/1026)	70.9 (692/965)	66.8 (1912/2856)
Young women who plan to have sons circumcised	60.8 (969/1592)	62.2 (986/1598)	75.7 (936/1234)	65.7 (1533/4424)

Table 4. Knowledge and attitudes of young men and women about MC and HIV.

	Weighted percentage (fraction) of respondents with belief or attitude
	Botswana		Namibia		Swaziland		All countries
Belief/attitude	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
A circumcised man is fully protected against HIV infection	10.8 (92/867)	9.1 (146/1589)	14.7 (154/1030)	10.7 (173/1581)	13.0 (126/973)	11.0 (136/1229)	13.0 (372/2870)	10.2 (455/4399)
Men need not be tested for HIV before being circumcised	25.7 (225/878)	23.8 (385/1629)	25.3 (263/1041)	21.9 (355/1631)	19.8 (196/988)	21.5 (272/1282)	23.4 (684/2907)	22.4 (1012/4542)
HIV positive men who are circumcised cannot transmit HIV	15.8 (136/881)	14.2 (228/1625)	13.8 (146/1043)	16.2 (265/1632)	22.8 (221/990)	26.4 (336/1286)	17.6 (503/2914)	18.5 (829/4543)
It's okay for a circumcised man to expect sex without a condom	12.0 (105/881)	7.6 (122/1629)	16.0 (159/1043)	14.5 (238/1632)	34.0 (334/989)	28.6 (360/1285)	21.2 (598/2913)	16.3 (720/4546)

Table 5. Factors related to beliefs and attitudes about MC and HIV among young women and men, from final models of multivariate analysis.

Factors in final model	Unadjusted OR	Adjusted OR (95% CIca)
Do not think that a circumcised man is fully protected against HIV infection
Had enough food in last week	1.27	1.19 (1.02–1.38)
Above primary education	2.32	2.09 (1.65–2.63)
Sex (male)	0.77	0.77 (0.66–0.91)
Age (15–19)	0.74	0.74 (0.63–0.87)
Married or cohabiting	0.78	0.72 (0.59–0.88)
Agree that ‘men should be tested for HIV before being circumcised’
Married or cohabiting	1.28	1.24 (1.06–1.45)
Above primary education	0.65	0.66 (0.55–0.79)
Do not agree that ‘HIV-positive men who are circumcised cannot transmit HIV’
Country (Botswana and Namibia)	1.87	1.83 (1.43–2.34)
Sex (male)	1.08	1.23 (1.04–1.46)
Had enough food in last week	1.31	1.18 (1.01–1.38)
Above primary education	1.75	1.56 (1.29–1.89)
Earn the same or more than partner	0.93	0.83 (0.69–0.99)
Do not agree that ‘It's okay for a circumcised man to expect sex without a condom’
Botswana, Namibia
Above primary education	2.10	1.92 (1.45–2.55)
Age (15–19)	0.70	0.83 (0.69–0.99)
Earn the same or more than partner	0.61	0.70 (0.57–0.85)
Swaziland
Had enough food in last week	1.28	1.36 (1.16–1.61)
Sex (male)	0.77	0.76 (0.61–0.95)
Age (15–19)	0.77	0.76 (0.61–0.96)
Note: All the initial models included sex, age group (15–19 vs. 20–29), marital status (married or cohabiting vs. single), food sufficiency in the last week (had enough food vs. did not have enough food), earnings relative to partner (more, same as partner or no partner vs. less than partner), education (above primary vs. primary or less), urban/rural residence and country (Botswana and Namibia vs. Swaziland).