Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30737260›Full record

ArticleSexually transmitted infections2019

Age-disparate partnerships and HSV-2 among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa: implications for HIV infection risk.

Brendan Maughan-Brown, Gavin George, Sean Beckett, Meredith Evans, Lara Lewis, Cherie Cawood, David Khanyile, Ayesha B M Kharsany

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Sexually transmitted infections, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
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  4. Stress-responsive biomarkers and sexual behaviors among young women in rural South Africa.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Sexual partnership concurrency and age disparities associated with sexually transmitted infection and risk behavior in rural communities in Kenya and Uganda.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Brendan Maughan-BrownSouthern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU), Department of Economics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa brendan.maughanbrown@gmail.com.
Gavin GeorgeHealth Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Sean BeckettHealth Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Meredith EvansDepartment of Anthropology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Lara LewisCentre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Cherie CawoodEpicentre AIDS Risk Management (Pty) Limited, Sandton, South Africa.
David KhanyileEpicentre AIDS Risk Management (Pty) Limited, Sandton, South Africa.
Ayesha B M KharsanyCentre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Funding

Identifying sources of HIV infection in adolescent girls in rural South AfricaR01HD083343 · NICHD · CENTRE/AIDS PROGRAMME/RES/SOUTH AFRICA · PI KHARSANY, AYESHA BM, KOHLER, HANS-PETER · 2015 to 2019
$1.7M
CGH CDC HHS U2G GH000372NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD083343
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThere is an urgent need to understand high HIV-infection rates among young women in sub-Saharan Africa. While age-disparate partnerships have been characterised with high-risk sexual behaviours, the mechanisms through which these partnerships may increase HIV-risk are not fully understood. This study assessed the association between age-disparate partnerships and herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) infection, a factor known to increase HIV-infection risk.

methodsCross-sectional face-to-face questionnaire data, and laboratory HSV-2 and HIV antibody data were collected among a representative sample in the 2014/2015 household survey of the HIV Incidence Provincial Surveillance System in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Among 15-24-year-old women who reported having ever had sex (n=1550), the association between age-disparate partnerships (ie, male partner ≥5 years older) and HSV-2 antibody status was assessed using multivariable Poisson regression models with robust variance. Analyses were repeated among HIV-negative women.

resultsHSV-2 prevalence was 55% among 15-24-year-old women. Women who reported an age-disparate partnership with their most recent partner were more likely to test HSV-2 positive compared with women with age-similar partners (64% vs 51%; adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR):1.19 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.32, p<0.01)). HSV-2 prevalence was also significantly higher among HIV-negative women who reported age-disparate partnerships (51% vs 40 %; aPR:1.25 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.50, p=0.014)).

conclusionsResults indicate that age-disparate partnerships are associated with a greater risk of HSV-2 among young women. These findings point towards an additional mechanism through which age-disparate partnerships could increase HIV-infection risk. Importantly, by increasing the HSV-2 risk, age-disparate partnerships have the potential to increase the HIV-infection risk within subsequent partnerships, regardless of the partner age-difference in those relationships.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAge FactorsAntibodies, ViralCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHerpes GenitalisHerpesvirus 2, HumanHIV AntibodiesHIV InfectionsHumansMaleRisk FactorsSexual BehaviorSexual PartnersSouth AfricaAntibodies, ViralHIV Antibodiesage discordant partnersherpes simplex virus type 2HIV preventionintergenerational partnershipssub-Saharan Africayoung women

Identifiers

PMID30737260
PMCPMC7477752

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.