Socioeconomic determinants of stigmatization and HIV testing in Lesotho

Figures & data

Table 1. Fraction of individuals expressing stigmatization attitudes, by background characteristic.

Background characteristics	% who would not buy vegetables from an HIV-positive vendor	% who think a HIV-positive female teacher should stop teaching	% who think a HIV-positive male teacher should stop teaching	% who would want to keep secret if a family member got HIV	% who are not willing to care for an HIV-positive family member	Observation
Gender
Female	0.361	0.315	0.320	0.382	0.087	14,719
Male	0.439	0.433	0.437	0.368	0.142	6114
Age group
15–19	0.409	0.382	0.386	0.348	0.145	5191
20–24	0.359	0.326	0.333	0.347	0.105	4151
25–29	0.345	0.309	0.314	0.384	0.094	3058
30–34	0.357	0.305	0.310	0.401	0.074	2443
35–39	0.369	0.335	0.341	0.418	0.075	2003
40–44	0.401	0.368	0.373	0.411	0.081	1745
45–49	0.416	0.373	0.381	0.408	0.078	1612
50–54^(a)	0.517	0.521	0.522	0.412	0.106	327
55–59(a)	0.570	0.545	0.545	0.407	0.128	303
Residence
Urban	0.256	0.188	0.193	0.356	0.071	5352
Rural	0.431	0.410	0.414	0.386	0.114	15,481
Marital status
Never married	0.367	0.332	0.338	0.338	0.123	8014
Married/living together	0.392	0.355	0.359	0.403	0.091	10,465
Divorced/separated/widowed	0.405	0.381	0.387	0.403	0.086	2253
Education
No education	0.652	0.666	0.672	0.383	0.193	1397
Primary education	0.483	0.460	0.465	0.397	0.121	11,546
Secondary/tertiary education	0.208	0.152	0.157	0.351	0.064	7871
Wealth quintile
Lowest	0.497	0.561	0.564	0.494	0.356	3870
Second	0.499	0.471	0.478	0.491	0.323	4106
Middle	0.397	0.367	0.370	0.375	0.097	3898
Fourth	0.324	0.260	0.265	0.368	0.087	4252
Highest	0.234	0.169	0.174	0.335	0.077	4707
Total	0.383	0.354	0.355	0.378	0.103	20833

Note: (a) Sample of men only. Source: authors’ calculations from the LDHS 2004 and 2009.

Figure 1. Trends in stigmatization attitudes toward those living with HIV/AIDS. Lesotho 2004–2009.

Source: Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey 2004, 2009.

Table 2. Determinants of stigmatizing attitudes.

Dependent variable = Sum of HIV vendor + Stop teaching + keeping HIV secret + No care HIV-positive household member
	Men	Women
	(1)	(2)
Age	−0.082**	−0.036**
	[0.011]	[0.008]
Age square	0.001**	0.000**
	[0.000]	[0.000]
Urban	−0.265**	−0.221**
	[0.059]	[0.040]
Durable	−0.372**	−0.489**
	[0.064]	[0.112]
Primary education	−1.218**	−1.081**
	[0.076]	[0.121]
Secondary education	−0.073**	−0.098**
	[0.017]	[0.012]
Catholic	0.038	0.113**
	[0.046]	[0.041]
No religion	0.088	0.260
	[0.091]	[0.278]
Traditional circumcision	0.299**
	[0.047]
Year 2009 dummy	−0.765**	−0.616**
	[0.041]	[0.045]
District dummies	Yes	Yes
R-squared	0.26	0.22
Observations	5303	13,080

Notes: Table reports OLS coefficients. Robust standard errors in brackets. Estimates weighted with sample weights. The omitted category for education is “No education” and the omitted category for religion is “Protestant”. The stigmatization index is computed by summing up the answers to these five indicators: 1. Would you buy vegetables from an HIV-positive vendor? 2. If a male teacher has the HIV virus, should he be allowed to continue teaching in the school? 3. If a female teacher has the HIV virus, should she be allowed to continue teaching in the school? 4. If a member of your family got infected with the virus that causes AIDS, would you want it to remain a secret or not? 5. If a relative of yours became sick with the virus that causes AIDS, would you be willing to care for her/him in your own household?

* Significant at 5%; **Significant at 1%.

Table 3. Probability of having had an HIV test.

Dependent variable = 1 if already HIV tested prior the survey
	Males		Females
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Sum of all the STIGMA indicators	−0.040**	−0.024**	−0.029**	−0.027**
	[0.005]	[0.006]	[0.004]	[0.005]
Age		0.042**		0.088**
		[0.003]		[0.004]
Age square		−0.000**		−0.001**
		[0.000]		[0.000]
Urban		−0.003		−0.027
		[0.019]		[0.016]
Primary education		0.013		0.037
		[0.021]		[0.047]
Secondary education		0.094**		0.041
		[0.028]		[0.048]
Durables		0.003		−0.007
		[0.006]		[0.005]
Catholic		−0.035*		0.001
		[0.014]		[0.017]
No religion		−0.060*		0.026
		[0.028]		[0.111]
Male circumcision		−0.013
		[0.016]
Year 2009 dummy	0.297**	0.307**	0.545**	0.572**
	[0.014]	[0.014]	[0.010]	[0.011]
District dummies	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Observations	5343	5303	13,147	13,080

Notes: Table reports marginal probit coefficients. Robust standard errors in brackets adjusted for the correlation at the village level. Estimates weighted with sample weights. Table reports only the statistically significant coefficients. Additional covariates include secondary education, durable goods, and traditional circumcision. The stigmatization index is computed by summing the answers to these five indicators: 1. Would you buy vegetables from an HIV-positive vendor? 2. If a male teacher has the HIV virus, should he be allowed to continue teaching in the school? 3. If a female teacher has the HIV virus, should she be allowed to continue teaching in the school? 4. If a member of your family got infected with the virus that causes AIDS, would you want it to remain a secret or not? 5. If a relative of yours became sick with the virus that causes AIDS, would you be willing to care for her/him in your own household?

* Significant at 5%; **significant at 1%.