Targeting the hotspots: investigating spatial and demographic variations in HIV infection in small communities in South Africa

Table 2 Characteristics of sexually active women who fell within the hotspots compared with those who did not

Screening characteristics	Inside the clusters	Outside the clusters	P value
HIV positive	49%	39%	< 0.001
Age (yrs)			0.548
≤ 24	40%	42%
25-34	38%	36%
35+	22%	22%
Less than high school education	27%	26%	0.481
Married	12%	16%	0.001
Living with a regular partner	29%	31%	0.301
Language of screening form
English	8%	13%	< 0.001
Zulu	91%	86%
Other	1%	1%
Religion (Christian)	94%	90%	< 0.001
Lifetime number of sexual partners			< 0.001
1	20%	26%
2	25%	29%
3+	55%	45%
Age at first sex < 17 yrs	87%	86%	0.270
Coital frequency (≥ 3 times/week)	27%	20%	< 0.001
Tested positive for STIs	16%	16%	0.987
Chlamydia	9%	9%	0.600
Gonorrhea	3%	3%	0.853
Trichomonas vaginalis	6%	6%	0.864
Tested positive for HSV2 at screening	77%	71%	< 0.001
Current contraceptive use at screening¹	78%	78%	0.835

Information on condom use was not available at the screening.
¹Any of the following: long term (vasectomy, tubal ligation, "Jadel", "Norplant", "Noplant", "removed uterus"), injectable hormones, the pill, barrier (male/female condoms) and other/none.