Orphanhood, access to information and HIV knowledge among female adolescents in Malawi

ABSTRACT

Research on female orphans rarely explores their comprehensive HIV knowledge, which is a proximate factor for HIV vulnerability. Access to information generally is associated with higher HIV knowledge. Although emerging, but still limited, is research that accounts for broader community-level factors, such as the spatial distribution of HIV prevalence and orphanhood. This study explores if there is a relationship between individual orphanhood status and access to information and HIV knowledge among females aged 15–17 years in Malawi using 2015/6 Demographic and Health Survey data. The study also investigates whether there are orphan/non-orphan differences in HIV knowledge with increasing community-level HIV prevalence. Logistic regression analyses indicate that being an orphan is significantly associated with having less access to information through school and mass media (OR: 0.6, p < 0.05), whereas higher community orphanhood prevalence is associated with comprehensive HIV knowledge (OR: 1.1, p < 0.05). The analyses revealed a small disadvantage among orphans in terms of their comprehensive HIV knowledge in areas with higher HIV prevalence. School attendance and age-appropriate progression are positively associated with HIV knowledge. To improve current levels of HIV knowledge (40%), strategies that focus on increasing access to school, particularly among orphans, are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Orphanhood
• access to information
• HIV knowledge
• female adolescents
• Malawi

Data availability statement

The data used in the study were nationally representative and collected by the Malawi government under the auspices of the international Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) program which is the main source of data for low and middle-income countries. The data are accessible at https://dhsprogram.com/data/available-datasets.cfm.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

“We gratefully acknowledge the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) for funding Carren Ginsburg’s Career Development Award”