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Abstract
The South African construction industry is one of the economic sectors most adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Prevalence rates exceed those of most other sectors. Little is known about the antibody testing behaviour of construction workers, and the determinants thereof. A field-administered questionnaire survey, using an item catalogue based on similar surveys, gathered data from 512 site-based construction employees in the Western Cape, South Africa. An integrated hypothesized conceptual model of testing behaviour, derived from the literature, was proposed as a starting point for data analysis. This model comprising demographic factors, lifestyle risk and condom use, alcohol consumption, drug use, knowledge about HIV/AIDS, prejudice towards HIV+ persons, and attitudinal fear of being tested, was used to explain testing behaviour. Bivariate analysis, regression modelling, and structural equation modelling were then used to test the conceptual model. A revised model was proposed. The findings indicate that: (1) employment type, alcohol consumption, drug use, and HIV/AIDS knowledge are the terminal predictors of testing behaviour; (2) knowledge about the disease is determined by education level and ethnicity; (3) age, gender, ethnicity and education behave as significant predictors of alcohol consumption; (4) drug use is predicted by employment type, education and alcohol consumption (marginally); and (5) the interrelationship between knowledge, prejudice, and fear of being tested is nuanced and complex. In strategies for positively influencing employee testing behaviour, employers should first ensure that effective communication is established with workers in all employment categories. Interventions relating to alcohol consumption and drug use by employees need particular attention. Existing peer educator training, and awareness campaign media, should be particularly sensitive to ethnic and cultural values that are likely to influence HIV/AIDS testing behaviour.
Acknowledgements
This work is based on research supported in part by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa (Grant specific unique reference number (UID) 85376). The Grantholder acknowledges that opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in any publication generated by the NRF supported research are those of the authors, and that the NRF accepts no liability whatsoever in this regard. The authors wish to express their appreciation to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) for permitting them to draw on relevant HSRC questionnaires in the compilation of the survey metric employed in this study.