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Table 1 Description of the variables

From: Socioeconomic inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan African countries: evidence from the Demographic Health Surveys

Variables

Description

Outcome variable

 

HIV/AIDS

1 = if the individual is HIV-positive, 0 otherwise

Demographic variables

 

 Age

 

    15-20

1 = if male aged 15-19 years, 0 otherwise

    20-29

1 = if male aged 20-29 years, 0 otherwise

    30-39

1 = if male aged 30-39 years, 0 otherwise

    40-49 (Ref.)

1 = if male aged 40-49 years, 0 otherwise

 Gender

 

Male (Ref.)

1 = if male, 0 otherwise

Female

1 = if female, 0 otherwise

 Marital status

 

    Married (Ref.)

1 = if the individual is married, 0 otherwise

    Separated/divorced/widowed

1 = if the individual is separated/divorced/widowed, 0 otherwise

    Never married

1 = if the individual is never married, 0 otherwise

Socioeconomic variables

 

 Standard of living

 

    Wealth index

Normalized wealth score on a scale of 0-100

 Education level

 

    None (Ref.)

1 = if the individual has no education, 0 otherwise

    Primary

1 = if the individual has primary education, 0 otherwise

    Secondary and above

1 = if the individual has secondary and above education, 0 otherwise

 Occupation type

 

     Agriculture (Ref.)

1 = if the individual’s occupation is agriculture, 0 otherwise

    White-collar

1 = if the individual is employed in occupations such as management, and office/service, 0 otherwise

    Blue-collar

1 = if the individual is employed in manual work, 0 otherwise

    Other occupations

1 = if the individual is employed in other occupations such as trade and domestic, 0 otherwise

    Unemployed

1 = if the individual is unemployed, 0 otherwise

Behavioural variables

 

 Number of sex partners

Number of sex partners the individual, excluding spouse, has in last 12 months.

 Age at first sex

 

    Never had sex

1 = if the individual never had sex, 0 otherwise

    <16

1 = if the individual had sex before the age of 16, 0 otherwise

    16-17

1 = if the individual had sex in ages 16 and 17, 0 otherwise

    18-19

1 = if the individual had sex in ages 18 and 19, 0 otherwise

    20 and above (Ref.)

1 = if the individual had sex after the age of 19, 0 otherwise

Ecological variable

 

 Geographical area

 

    Urban

1 = if the individual resides in urban area, 0 otherwise

    Rural (Ref.)

1 = if the individual resides in rural area, 0 otherwise