Tanzanian men’s gender attitudes, HIV knowledge, and risk behaviours

This study uses data from the 2004-05 Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey to examine whether men’s traditional gender role attitudes contribute to their sexual risk behaviours for HIV.   Logistic regression with random effects were used to analyze effects on risk behaviours at last sex (partners being drunk and condom use) with the three most recent sexual relationships.  Men’s traditional gender attitudes increased risky sexual behaviours (e.g., not using a condom) even when they had accurate knowledge regarding HIV risks.  The impact of men’s gender attitudes and HIV knowledge on risky sexual behaviours did not vary by relationship type.  Unexpectedly, condom use was more likely when either partner was drunk compared to neither being drunk, though the protective impact of HIV knowledge remained.  Overall, these findings suggest that traditional gender attitudes present barriers to preventing HIV/AIDS that even increased knowledge about HIV risks may not overcome. 

Family effects on self-reported health among Russian wives and husbands

Alcohol abuse and a transition to the market economy are often blamed for high mortality and low life expectancy in Russia, but little is known about proximate influences on individual health. This study estimates family influences on the self-reported health of Russian wives and husbands. Predicting gender differences in the determinants of health status, hypotheses are presented for the effects on spouses' self-reported health of five family characteristics: economic status, household division of labor, family decision-making, presence of young children, and housing conditions. Controls are included for age, education, sensitivity, alcohol use, job-related time, and urban-rural location. Data from a 1996 sample of couples (n=925) from Moscow and two rural regions of Russia are analyzed using logistic regression. The findings provide mixed support for the hypotheses, though they do show the important role of family characteristics on spouses' health. Family economic standing is important to both spouses' self-reported health, though young children in the home is not. Family decision-making does influence spouses' health: when Russian wives are the primary decision makers in the family, their own health suffers, though their husbands' health is better. And support is found for the combined effects of job-related time and household labor but only for wives' health. When wife's household labor is low, the probability of her having poor health increases, the more time she devotes to her job. However, when she does substantially more domestic labor than her husband, her job-related time has the opposite effect, reducing the chances of poor health, the more time she spends on job activities. This study is important both in helping to account for poor health of Russians during the current economic and social transition and in identifying aspects of family life that affect men's and women's health cross-nationally.Russia Self-reported health, Husband/wife health Household labour Social transition

Comparing offers and take-ups of employee health insurance across, race, gender, and decade

How often do U.S. employees receive health insurance offers from employers? When offered, how often do they take up their employer-based health insurance? This article uses the 1992 and 2002 waves of the National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) to investigate changes in access to (offers) and employees electing to accept, take, or purchase their employers’ health insurance plans (take-ups) among wage and salaried workers. Although much research has studied employee health benefits, little has examined the intersection of gender and race regarding both offers and take-ups of such benefits. Logistic regression results indicate that offers and take-ups of personal health benefits declined from 1992 to 2002, net of salient controls. Further analyses demonstrate that these declines did not affect all workers identically. Offers declined somewhat for both women and men among whites and African Americans, but declined more among Hispanic women and men. Among other ethnoracial groups, offers declined the most among men, but increased among comparable women. Take-ups declined among white men and Hispanic workers. However, white and African American women\u27s take-ups did not change and among African American men take-ups increased. We discuss the need to examine gender and race simultaneously and urge researchers to more closely examine changes in health benefit offers and take-up

Alcohol use and abuse among rural Zimbabwean adults: A test of a community-level intervention

BackgroundUnderstanding what factors contribute to alcohol abuse in resource-poor countries is important given its adverse health consequences. Past research shows that social peers influence substance abuse, suggesting that the social environment may be an effective target for reducing alcohol abuse across a population. This study investigates the determinants of alcohol use and abuse in rural Zimbabwe and tests a Community Popular Opinion Leader (CPOL) community-based intervention partly directed at reducing alcohol abuse.MethodsTests were conducted on the impact of the CPOL intervention on alcohol use patterns across communities in rural Zimbabwe over three waves from 2003 to 2007, including community- and individual-level tests using data based on in-person interviews of adult men and women (ages 18–30; N = 5543). Data were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests, as well as logistic and ordinary least-squares regression with random effects.ResultsHigher drinking (any use, more frequent use, greater quantity, and/or frequent drunkenness) was generally associated with being male, older, not married, more highly educated, of Shona ethnicity, away from home frequently, employed, having no religious affiliation, or living in areas with a higher crude death rate or lower population density. Over the study period, significant declines in alcohol use and abuse were found in intervention and control sites at relatively equal levels.ConclusionsAlthough no support was found for the effectiveness of the CPOL study in reducing alcohol abuse, Zimbabwe is similar to other countries in the impact of socio-demographic and cultural factors on alcohol use and abuse.<br/