ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2019
National age-of-consent laws and adolescent HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a propensity-score matched study.
Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Adolescent participation in HIV research: consortium experience in low and middle-income countries and scoping review.The lancet. HIV · 2020Pooled it
- An overview of consent requirements for HIV and viral hepatitis B and C testing in Europe.HIV medicine · 2026Article
- Analysis of Adolescent HIV Care Cascade Outcomes in PEPFAR-Supported Programs in Central America, October 2020-September 2024.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Article
- Who gets missed in Zambia's antenatal HIV testing? Persistent inequities despite routine screening policies in Zambia.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Cross-National Trends in Early Sexual Initiation Among 15-Year-Old Adolescents, 2002-2022.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Expanding single-venue services to better engage young people who inject drugs: insights from India.Harm reduction journal · 2024Review
- The effect of late presentation on HIV related mortality among adolescents in public hospitals of north showa zone Oromiya, Ethiopia; 2022: a retrospective cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Temporal Trends and Determinants of HIV Testing at Antenatal Care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Pooled Analysis of Population-Based Surveys (2005-2021).Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2024Article
- Age-of-consent requirements and adolescent HIV testing in low-and middle-income countries: multinational insights from 51 population-based surveys.International journal of STD & AIDS · 2023Article
- Public School Adolescents Had Increased Odds of Being Willing to Uptake HPV Vaccinations Owing to Sociodemographic and Healthcare Access Features in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia.BioMed research international · 2023Article
- Health Equity in Pediatric Drug Development: Translating Aspiration into Operation.Therapeutic innovation & regulatory science · 2022Review
- Article
- High Acceptance and Completion of HIV Self-testing Among Diverse Populations of Young People in Kenya Using a Community-Based Distribution Strategy.AIDS and behavior · 2022Article
- COVID-19 vaccines for children and adolescents in Africa: aligning our priorities to situational realities.BMJ global health · 2022Review
- Removing the societal and legal impediments to the HIV response: An evidence-based framework for 2025 and beyond.PloS one · 2022Article
- Article
- Adolescents and age of consent to HIV testing: an updated review of national policies in sub-Saharan Africa.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Youths' perceptions of community health workers' delivery of family planning services: a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study in Nakaseke District, Uganda.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Changes over time in HIV testing and counselling uptake and associated factors among youth in Zambia: a cross-sectional analysis of demographic and health surveys from 2007 to 2018.BMC public health · 2021Article
- "When you have a high life, and you like sex, you will be afraid": a qualitative evaluation of adolescents' decision to test for HIV in Zambia and Kenya using the health belief model.BMC public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectiveTo estimate the association between legal age of consent and coverage of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing among adolescents in countries with high HIV-burden.
methodsWe analysed data from adolescents aged 15-18 years, who participated in Demographic and Health Surveys or AIDS Indicator Surveys between 2011 and 2016, in 15 sub-Saharan African countries. To improve balance in the distribution of measured individual- and country-level characteristics, we used propensity score matching between adolescents in countries with more versus less restrictive age-of-consent laws (≤ 15 years versus ≥ 16 years). We estimated the percentage of individuals who self-reported that they have done an HIV test in the past 12 months and compared the differences in such testing rates among adolescents exposed to lower versus higher age-of-consent laws. We also investigated effect modifications by sex and age.
findingsLegal age of consent below 16 years was associated with an 11.0 percentage points higher coverage of HIV testing (95% confidence interval, CI: 7.2 to 14.8), corresponding to a rate ratio of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.35 to 2.13). HIV testing rate had a stronger association with lower age of consent among females than males. The testing rates differences were 14.0 percentage points (95% CI: 8.6 to 19.4) for females and 6.9 percentage points (95% CI: 1.6 to 12.2) for males (
conclusionThis study provides evidence to support the recent World Health Organization's recommendations that countries should examine current laws and address age-related barriers to uptake of sexual and reproductive health services.
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