Trends in HIV risk behaviour of incoming first-year students at a South African university: 2007–2012

Figures & data

Table 1. Background information of incoming students over time (2007–2012) (weighted).

Variable	Outcomes	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Rao–Scott chi-square
		n = 879	n = 823	n = 845	n = 1261	n = 1409	n = 1514	p-value
Gender	Female	60	62	64	61	63	61	5.42
	Male	40	38	36	39	37	39	0.3669
Age group	16–<20	81	79	89	83	84	81	28.79
	20–<24	19	21	11	17	16	19	<.0001*
Matriculation province	Western Cape	71	73	82	75	75	77	25.41
	Others	29	27	18	25	25	23	.0001*
Race	Black	40	41	38	42	41	45	48.49
	Coloured	47	49	54	50	50	46	<.0001*
	White	5	4	3	3	5	5
	Indian/Asian	8	6	5	5	4	4
Reside when at university	Home with relatives	72	71	81	74	74	74	111.83
	UWC hostel	21	22	11	16	12	13	<.0001*
	Rent with friends	5	6	5	6	10	9
	Rent a room alone	2	1	3	3	4	4
Religion	Christian	78	80	83	85	81	83	46.57
	Muslim	14	16	12	12	12	10	<.0001*
	Traditional	3	2	2	2	3	4
	Others	5	2	3	2	4	3
Importance of religion in influencing sexual behaviour	Very important	58	60	56	57	55	59	18.96
	Somewhat important	20	19	20	21	20	18	.5246
	Slightly important	9	7	9	8	9	8
	Not sure	7	9	10	10	11	10
	Unimportant	6	5	5	4	5	5

* p-value <0.01.

Table 2. Sexual activity and related responses over time (2007–2012).

Variable	Outcomes	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Rao–Scott chi-square
		n = 879	n = 823	n = 845	n = 1261	n = 1409	n = 1514	p-value
Sexually active (vaginal, oral or anal)	Yes	52	54	57	54	56	56	4.96
	No	48	46	43	46	44	44	.4203
Ever had vaginal sex	Yes	44	49	52	48	52	51	16.58
	No	56	51	48	52	48	49	.0054*
Used a condom with last vaginal sex (only sexually active students)	Yes	72	69	73	69	69	67	5.45
	No	28	31	27	31	31	33	.3632
How often are condoms used for vaginal sex (only sexually active students)	Never	7	5	6	9	6	7	20.41
	Sometimes	33	40	36	39	43	42	.0255*
	Always	60	55	58	52	51	51
Ever had oral sex	Yes	27	24	26	24	25	23	11.79
	No	66	68	69	71	70	70	.2995
	Do not know what oral sex is	7	8	5	5	5	7
Contract HIV from oral sex	Yes	62	64	64	63	70	66	20.92
	No	26	25	25	27	20	23	.0216*
	Do not know what oral sex is	12	11	11	10	10	11
Used condom/barrier with last oral sex (only sexually active students)	Yes	21	19	19	18	16	18	1.55
	No	79	81	81	82	84	82	.9073
How often are condoms/barriers used for oral sex (only sexually active students)	Never	65	63	66	62	66	66	2.64
	Sometimes	19	22	21	22	20	20	.9887
	Always	16	15	13	16	14	14
Have you ever had anal sex	Yes	4	5	6	6	6	6	5.52
	No	88	88	87	87	87	87	.8532
	Do not know what anal sex is	8	7	7	7	7	7
Contract HIV from anal sex	Yes	76	74	74	72	77	74	17.39
	No	11	12	15	16	13	13	.0662
	Do not know what anal sex is	13	14	11	12	10	13
Used condom with last anal sex (only sexually active students)	Yes	44	43	60	38	47	48	6.15
	No	56	57	40	62	53	52	.2923
How often are condoms used for anal sex (only sexually active students)	Never	38	44	27	41	29	37	18.56
	Sometimes	25	24	17	29	31	38	.0462*
	Always	37	32	56	30	40	25
Do you ever have sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol? (only sexually active students)	Yes	20	29	33	32	35	33	49.92
	No	80	71	67	68	65	67	<.0001*
How often is alcohol drank before sexual intercourse (only sexually active students)	Never	57	63	54	55	52	55	19.20
	Sometimes	42	37	46	44	47	44	.0378*
	Every time	1	0	0	1	1	1
Do you ever have sexual intercourse after using drugs? (only sexually active students)	Yes	5	6	6	7	8	6	6.86
	No	95	94	94	93	92	94	.2314
Number of sexual partners in the last year (only sexually active students)	None	11	7	6	11	9	8	18.49
	1	54	52	58	52	50	51	.2378
	2	20	21	17	18	21	22
	3 or more	15	20	19	19	20	19
Who decides when a condom should be used (only sexually active students)	I decide	31	32	34	34	33	34	8.03
	My partner	1	2	1	2	2	2	.9227
	Both of us	65	64	61	60	61	61
	Never use condoms	3	2	4	4	4	3
Had a sexually transmitted infection (only sexually active students)	Yes	4	4	3	3	3	4	3.77
	No	96	96	97	97	97	96	.5827
Taken an HIV test	Yes	19	24	28	38	39	47	228.94
	No	81	76	72	62	61	53	<.0001*
Age – first vaginal sex	Mean males	15.47	15.68	15.58	15.57	15.55	15.61
	Mean females	16.85	16.97	16.63	16.55	16.83	16.58
Age – first vaginal sex	Mean males black	14.99	15.48	15.00	15.00	14.94	15.10
	Mean males other	16.04	15.96	16.14	16.20	16.21	16.22
	Mean females black	16.79	17.07	16.69	16.51	16.90	16.53
	Mean females other	16.93	16.86	16.59	16.58	16.77	16.63
Age – first oral sex	Mean males	16.39	16.07	16.04	16.03	16.30	16.29
	Mean females	17.12	17.42	16.91	16.92	17.19	17.01
Age – first oral sex	Mean males Black	16.94	16.73	15.47	16.16	16.21	16.45
	Mean males other	16.15	15.41	16.31	15.94	16.36	16.17
	Mean females black	17.28	18.06	16.97	17.28	17.55	17.15
	Mean females other	17.04	16.97	16.88	16.71	16.94	16.94

*p-value <.05.

Table 3. Risk behaviour according to sexual activity (2007–2012) (%).

Variable		Sexually active	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
			n = 879	n = 823	n = 845	n = 1261	n = 1409	n = 1514
Depressed or suicidal ideation	Yes	Yes	43	42	42	32	32	32
		No	57	58	58	68	68	68
	No	Yes	33	41	37	29	30	25
		No	67	59	63	71	70	75
			Χ^2 = 7.27	Χ^2 = 0.04	Χ^2 = 1.83	Χ^2 = 1.12	Χ^2 = 0.77	Χ^2 = 7.99
			p = .0070*	p = .8360	p = .1764	p = .2898	p = .3787	p = .0047*
Have you ever used drugs?	Yes	Yes	30	25	28
		No	70	75	72
	No	Yes	19	11	14
		No	81	89	86
			Χ^2 = 13.63	Χ^2 = 25.13	Χ^2 = 23.48
			p = .0002*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*
During the past 30 days, did you use drugs?	Yes	Yes				6	8	8
		No				94	92	92
	No	Yes				1	3	3
		No				99	97	97
						Χ^2 = 70.0	Χ^2 = 18.22	Χ^2 = 14.98
						p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*
Do you smoke?	Yes	Yes	30	28	30	32	29	27
		No	70	72	70	68	71	73
	No	Yes	14	13	12	15	12	15
		No	86	87	88	85	88	85
			Χ^2 = 30.87	Χ^2 = 26.21	Χ^2 = 40.05	Χ^2 = 39.69	Χ^2 = 54.79	Χ^2 = 28.06
			p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*
Do you drink alcohol?	Yes	Yes	67	63	70	68	71	71
		No	33	37	30	32	29	29
	No	Yes	32	35	39	37	37	43
		No	68	65	61	63	63	57
			Χ^2 = 80.87	Χ^2 = 54.91	Χ^2 = 70.58	Χ^2 = 92.98	Χ^2 = 141.18	Χ^2 = 103.04
			p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*

X² = Rao–Scott chi-square.

*p-value <.01.

Fig. 1. Sexual activity related to depression or suicidal ideation.

Fig. 2. Sexual activity related to drug use.

Fig. 3. Sexual activity related to alcohol use.

Fig. 4. Sexual activity related to smoking.

Table 4. HIV testing (2007–2012) (%).

Variable		Taken HIV test	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
			n = 876	n = 820	n = 843	n = 1257	n = 1403	n = 1512
Sexually active	Yes	Yes	30	36	36	48	48	57
		No	70	64	64	52	52	43
	No	Yes	9	10	18	27	27	35
		No	91	90	82	73	73	65
			Χ^2 = 48.77	Χ^2 = 64.71	Χ^2 = 29.5	Χ^2 = 41.73	Χ^2 = 57.17	Χ^2 = 63.05
			p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*
Gender	Female	Yes	21	23	30	41	40	49
		No	79	77	70	59	60	51
	Male	Yes	17	26	24	33	36	44
		No	83	74	76	67	64	56
			Χ^2 = 1.64	Χ^2 = 0.77	Χ^2 = 2.47	Χ^2 = 6.30	Χ^2 = 2.29	Χ^2 = 2.32
			p = .2002	p = .3815	p = .1168	p = .0121*	p = .1300	p = .1273
Race	Black	Yes	30	39	37	48	49	60
		No	70	61	63	52	51	40
	Others	Yes	12	15	23	31	33	39
		No	88	85	77	69	67	61
			Χ^2 = 36.24	Χ^2 = 50.96	Χ^2 = 15.29	Χ^2 = 31.36	Χ^2 = 30.64	Χ^2 = 55.34
			p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*
Female	Black	Yes	36	38	42	56	52	67
		No	46	62	58	44	48	37
	Others	Yes	12	14	24	32	34	40
		No	88	86	76	68	66	60
			Χ^2 = 37.25	Χ^2 = 33.91	Χ^2 = 17.51	Χ^2 = 39.18	Χ^2 = 25.67	Χ^2 = 43.81
			p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*
Male	Black	Yes	22	41	29	38	45	56
		No	78	59	71	62	55	44
	Others	Yes	12	17	21	29	31	37
		No	88	83	79	71	69	63
			Χ^2 = 4.89	Χ^2 = 17.12	Χ^2 = 1.72	Χ^2 = 2.89	Χ^2 = 7.73	Χ^2 = 15.52
			p = .0270*	p < .0001*	p = .1894	p = .0890	p = .0054*	p < .0001*

X² = Rao–Scott chi-square.

* p-value <.05.

Fig. 5. HIV testing by sexual activity.

Fig. 6. HIV testing by racial group.

Fig. 7. HIV testing by racial group.

Table 5. Intention to go for HIV testing (2007–2012).

Variable		Intention to HIV test	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
			n = 879	n = 823	n = 845	n = 1261	n = 1409	n = 1514
Sexually active	Yes	Yes	68	78	73	69	72	71
		No	32	22	27	31	28	29
	No	Yes	61	57	67	67	65	58
		No	39	43	33	33	35	42
			Χ^2 = 3.72	Χ^2 = 34.45	Χ^2 = 3.14	Χ^2 = 0.92	Χ^2 = 8.38	Χ^2 = 26.49
			p = .0537	p < 0.0001*	p = .0762	p = .3363	p = .0038*	p < .0001*
Gender	Female	Yes	70	70	72	71	73	68
		No	30	30	28	29	27	32
	Male	Yes	57	64	66	62	62	60
		No	43	36	34	38	38	40
			Χ^2 = 12.44	Χ^2 = 3.49	Χ^2 = 2.33	Χ^2 = 10.70	Χ^2 = 14.49	Χ^2 = 10.2
			p = .0004*	p = .0618	p = .1267	p = .0011*	p = .0001	p = .0014*
Race	Black	Yes	64	74	72	73	71	70
		No	36	26	28	27	29	30
	Others	Yes	69	67	72	66	69	64
		No	31	33	28	34	31	36
			Χ^2 = 1.34	Χ^2 = 3.40	Χ^2 = 0.001	Χ^2 = 6.53	Χ^2 = 0.31	Χ^2 = 4.79
			p = .2478	p = .0654	p = .9682	p = .0106*	p = .5766	p < .0300*
Female	Black	Yes	71	77	76	79	77	75
		No	29	23	24	21	23	25
	Others	Yes	72	68	73	68	70	66
		No	28	32	27	32	30	34
			Χ^2 = 0.03	Χ^2 = 3.73	Χ^2 = 0.41	Χ^2 = 9.95	Χ^2 = 4.12	Χ^2 = 7.48
			p = .8650	p = .0535	p = .5222	p = .0016*	p = .0425*	p < .0063*
Male	Black	Yes	55	69	66	66	61	63
		No	45	35	34	34	39	37
	Others	Yes	64	65	70	62	66	61
		No	36	35	30	38	34	39
			Χ^2 = 1.96	Χ^2 = 0.51	Χ^2 = 0.37	Χ^2 = 0.59	Χ^2 = 1.01	Χ^2 = 0.32
			p = .1617	p = .4750	p = .2200	p = .4418	p = .3143	p = .5741

X² = Rao–Scott chi-square.

*p-value <.05.

Table 6. HIV knowledge and fatigue (2007–2012) (%).

Variable		HIV/AIDS fatigue	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
			n = 851	n = 797	n = 822	n = 1088	n = 1236	n = 1395
Do you know enough about HIV/AIDS?	Yes	Yes	41	36	44	44	44	41
		No	59	64	54	56	56	59
	No	Yes	19	17	18	18	15	18
		No	81	83	82	82	85	82
			Χ^2 = 36.09	Χ^2 = 28.69	Χ^2 = 47.06	Χ^2 = 62.95	Χ^2 = 99.40	Χ^2 = 68.25
			p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*	p < .0001*

Χ² = Rao–Scott chi-square

*p-value <.01.