Browsing by Author "F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé"
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Item Antiretroviral therapy and aging as resources for managing and resisting HIV-related stigma in rural South Africa(2022-12) Danielle Denardo; Sanyu A. Mojolab; Enid Schatzc; F. Xavier Gómez-OlivéThe widespread roll-out of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Africa has contributed to a large population of adults aging with HIV. However, little is known about how HIV-related stigma interacts with aging in the ART era. This study uses in-depth interviews with middle-aged and older South Africans living with HIV to explore stigma-related experiences and response strategies. Participants describe a persistence of stigma which requires the deployment of a range of common and age-based stigma management and resistance strategies. We find that participants minimize their exposure to stigma through selective disclosure of their HIV status; neutralize HIV-related stigma through comparisons to chronic illnesses common among older adults, and deflect stigma through asserting an ART-adherent identity and othering younger non-adherent adults. Overall, our study highlights the roles of ART and aging as resources for managing and resisting HIV-related stigma.Item Associations Between Key Psychosocial Stressors and Viral Suppression and Retention in Care Among Youth with HIV in Rural South Africa(2021-02-24) Lindsey M; Filiatreau; Audrey Pettifor; Jessie K; Edwards; Nkosinathi Masilela; Rhian Twine; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Nicole Haberland; Chodziwadziwa Whiteson Kabudula; Sheri A; Lippman; Kathleen KahnDespite improvements in access to antiretroviral treatment over the past decade, sub-optimal HIV care outcomes persist among youth with HIV (YWH) in rural South Africa. Psychosocial stressors could impede improved HIV treatment outcomes within this population. We linked self-reported psychosocial health and demographic data from a cross-sectional survey conducted among YWH aged 12–24 in rural South Africa to individual medical record data, including facility visit history and viral load measurements. Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to estimate the associations between five psychosocial stressors- heightened depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale scores ≥ 16), lower social support (Medical Outcomes Social Support Scale scores ≤ 38), lower resilience (Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale scores ≤ 73), lower self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale scores ≤ 21), and higher perceived stress (Sheldon Cohen Perceived Stress Scale scores ≥ 10)- and viral non-suppression (viral load ≥ 400 copies/mL) and loss to care (no documented clinic visits within the 90 days prior to survey), separately. A total of 359 YWH were included in this analysis. The median age of study participants was 21 (interquartile range: 16–23), and most were female (70.2%), single (82.4%), and attending school (54.7%). Over a quarter of participants (28.1%) had heightened depressive symptoms. Just 16.2% of all participants (n = 58) were lost to care at the time of survey, while 32.4% (n = 73) of the 225 participants with viral load data were non-suppressed. The prevalence of non-suppression in individuals with lower self-esteem was 1.71 (95% confidence interval: 1.12, 2.61) times the prevalence of non-suppression in those with higher self-esteem after adjustment. No meaningful association was observed between heightened depressive symptoms, lower social support, lower resilience, and higher perceived stress and viral non-suppression or loss to care in adjusted analyses. Retention in care and viral suppression among YWH in rural South Africa are below global targets. Interventions aimed at improving viral suppression among YWH should incorporate modules to improve participant’s self-esteem as low self-esteem is associated with viral non-suppression in this setting. Future studies should longitudinally explore the joint effects of co-occurring psychosocial stressors on HIV care outcomes in YWH and assess meaningful differences in these effects by age, gender, and route of transmission.Item Dimensions of internal migration and their relationship to blood pressure in South Africa(2019-11) Chantel F. Pheiffer; Stephen T. McGarvey; Carren Ginsburg; Mark Collinson; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Stephen Tollman; Michael J. WhiteHypertension prevalence is on the rise in low and middle income countries like South Africa, and migration and concomitant urbanization are often considered to be associated with this rise. However, relatively little is known about the relationship between blood pressure (BP) and internal migration - a highly prevalent population process in LMICs. This study employs data for a group of 194 adult men and women from an original pilot dataset drawn from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in northeast South Africa. Migrants in the sample are identified, tracked, and interviewed. The relationship between BP and migration distance and the number of months an individual spends away from his/her home village is estimated using robust OLS regression, controlling for a series of socioeconomic, health, and behavioral characteristics. This study finds migrants who move further distances and for longer durations to have significantly higher systolic and diastolic BP compared with shorter-term migrants and those who remain nearby or in their home village. These associations remain robust and statistically significant when adjusting for measures of socioeconomic conditions, as well as body mass index (BMI), and the number of meals consumed per day. Migration, both in terms of distance and time away, explains significant variation in BP among migrants in a typical South African context. This finding suggests the need for further studies of nutritional and psychosocial factors associated with geographic mobility that may be important factors for understanding rising hypertension in LMICs.Item Friendships Among Young South African Women, Sexual Behaviours and Connections to Sexual Partners (HPTN 068)(2019-01-25) Elizabeth Fearon; Richard D. Wiggins; Audrey E. Pettifor; Catherine MacPhail; Kathleen Kahn; Amanda Selin; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; James R. HargreavesFriends could be influential on young women’s sexual health via influences on sexual behaviours and as connections to sexual partners, but are understudied in sub-Saharan Africa. We crosssectionally surveyed 2326 13–20 year-old young women eligible for grades 8–11 in rural South Africa about their sexual behaviour and up to three sexual partners. Participants each described five specific but unidentified friends and the relationships between them in an ‘egocentric’ network analysis design. We used logistic regression to investigate associations between friendship characteristics and participants’ reports of ever having had sex (n=2326) and recent condom use (n=457). We used linear regression with random effects by participant to investigate friendship characteristics and age differences with sexual partners (n=633 participants, 1051 partners). We found that it was common for friends to introduce young women to those who later became sexual partners, and having older friends was associated with having older sexual partners, (increase of 0.37 years per friend at least one year older, 95% CI 0.21–0.52, adjusted). Young women were more likely to report ever having had sex when more friends were perceived to be sexually active (adjusted OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.72–2.01 per friend) and when they discussed sex, condoms and HIV with friends. Perception of friends’ condom use was not associated with participants’ reported condom use. While this study is preliminary and unique in this population and further research should be conducted, social connections between friends and sexual partners and perceptions of friend sexual behaviours could be considered in the design of sexual health interventions for young women in South AfricaItem ‘It’s because I like things… it’s a status and he buys me airtime’: exploring the role of transactional sex in young women’s consumption patterns in rural South Africa (secondary findings from HPTN 068)(2018) Meghna Ranganathan; Lori Heise; Catherine MacPhail; Heidi Stöckl; Richard J. Silverwood; Kathleen Kahn; Amanda Selin; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Charlotte Watts; Audrey PettiforBackground ‘Transactional sex’, defined as a non-marital, non-commercial sexual relationship in which money or material goods are exchanged for sex, is associated with young women’s increased vulnerability to HIV infection. Existing research illustrates that the motivations for transactional sex are complex. The fulfilment of psycho-social needs such as the need to belong to a peer group are important factors underlying young women’s desires to obtain certain consumption items and thus engage in transactional sex. Methods We use a mixed-methods approach to explore the relationship between transactional sex and consumption patterns among young women in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. In the secondary analysis of 693 sexually active young women, we use factor analysis to group the different consumption items and we use multivariable logistic regression to demonstrate the relationship between transactional sex and consumption patterns. The qualitative study uses five focus group discussions and 19 in-depth interviews to explore further young women’s motivations for acquiring different consumption items. Results The quantitative results show that young women that engage in transactional sex have higher odds of consuming items for entertainment (e.g., movie tickets) than on practical items (e.g., food and groceries). The qualitative findings also revealed that young women’s perceptions of items that were considered a ‘need’ were strongly influenced by peer pressure and a desire for improved status. Further, there was a perception that emerged from the qualitative data that relationships with sugar daddies offered a way to acquire consumer goods associated with a ‘modern lifestyle’, such as items for personal enhancement and entertainment. However, young women seem aware of the risks associated with such relationships. More importantly, they also develop relationship with partners of similar age, albeit with the continued expectation of material exchange, despite engaging in the relationship for love. Conclusion This study shows that young women are willing to take certain risks in order to have a degree of financial independence. Interventions that provide alternative methods of attaining this independence, such as the provision of cash transfers may have potential in preventing them from engaging in transactional relationships. Further, the psycho-social reasons that drive young women’s motivations for consumption items resulting in risky sexual behaviours need to be better understood.Item Meta-analysis of sub-Saharan African studies provides insights into genetic architecture of lipid traits(2022-05-11) Ananyo Choudhury; Jean-Tristan Brandenburg; Tinashe Chikowore; Dhriti Sengupta; Palwende Romuald Boua; Nigel J. Crowther; Godfred Agongo; Gershim Asik; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Isaac Kisiangani; Eric Maimela; Matshane Masemola-Maphutha; Lisa K. Micklesfield; Engelbert A. Nonterah; Shane A. Norris; Hermann Sorgho; Halidou Tinto; Stephen Tollman; Sarah E. Graham; Cristen J. Willer; AWI-Gen study; H3Africa Consortium; Scott Hazelhurst; Michèle RamsayGenetic associations for lipid traits have identified hundreds of variants with clear differences across European, Asian and African studies. Based on a sub-Saharan-African GWAS for lipid traits in the population cross-sectional AWI-Gen cohort (N = 10,603) we report a novel LDL-C association in the GATB region (P-value=1.56 × 10−8). Meta-analysis with four other African cohorts (N = 23,718) provides supporting evidence for the LDL-C association with the GATB/FHIP1A region and identifies a novel triglyceride association signal close to the FHIT gene (P-value =2.66 × 10−8). Our data enable fine-mapping of several well-known lipid-trait loci including LDLR, PMFBP1 and LPA. The transferability of signals detected in two large global studies (GLGC and PAGE) consistently improves with an increase in the size of the African replication cohort. Polygenic risk score analysis shows increased predictive accuracy for LDL-C levels with the narrowing of genetic distance between the discovery dataset and our cohort. Novel discovery is enhanced with the inclusion of African data.Item SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence after Third Wave of Infections, South Africa(2022-05) Jackie Kleynhans; Stefano Tempia; Nicole Wolter; Anne von Gottberg; Jinal N. Bhiman; Amelia Buys; Jocelyn Moyes; Meredith L. McMorrow; Kathleen Kahn; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Stephen Tollman; Neil A. Martinson; Floidy Wafawanaka; Limakatso Lebina; Jacques D. du Toit; Waasila Jassat; Mzimasi Neti; Marieke Brauer; Cheryl CohenBy November 2021, after the third wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections in South Africa, seroprevalence was 60% in a rural community and 70% in an urban community. High seroprevalence before the Omicron variant emerged may have contributed to reduced illness severity observed in the fourth wave.Item Significant Improvement in Blood Pressure Levels Among Older Adults With Hypertension in Rural South Africa(2023-08-08) Enrico G. Ferro; Shafika Abrahams-Gessel; David Kapaon; Brian Houle; Jacques Du Toit; Ryan G. Wagner; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Alisha N. Wade; Chodziwadziwa W. Kabudulah; Stephen Tollman; Thomas A. GazianoBackground:Sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing an epidemiologic transition from infectious diseases to cardiovascular diseases. From 2014 to 2019, sociodemographic surveillance was performed in a large cohort in rural South Africa. Methods:Disease prevalence and incidence were calculated using inverse probability weights. Poisson regression was used to identify disease predictors. The percentage of individuals with controlled (<140/90 mm Hg) versus uncontrolled hypertension was compared between 2014 and 2019. Results:Compared with 2014 (n=5059), study participants in 2019 (n=4176) had similar rates of obesity (mean body mass index, 27.5±10.0 versus 27.0±6.5) but higher smoking (9.1% versus 11.5%) and diabetes (11.1% versus 13.9%). There was no significant increase in hypertension prevalence (58.4% versus 59.8%; age adjusted, 64.3% versus 63.3%), and there was a significant reduction in mean systolic blood pressure (138.0 versus 128.5 mm Hg; P<0.001). Among hypertensive individuals who reported medication use in 2014 and 2019 (n=796), the proportion with controlled hypertension on medication increased from 44.5% to 62.3%. Hypertension incidence was 6.2 per 100 person-years, and age was the only independent predictor. Among normotensive individuals in 2014 (n=2257), 15.2% developed hypertension by 2019, with the majority already controlled on medications by 2019. Conclusions:The hypertension prevalence and incidence are plateauing in this aging cohort. There was a statistically and clinically significant decline in mean blood pressure and a substantial increase in individuals with controlled hypertension on medication. The prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors did not decrease over time, suggesting that the blood pressure decrease is likely due to increased medication access and adherence, promoted by local health systems.