The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans

© 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. Purpose We examine effects of school support as a structural HIV prevention intervention for adolescent female orphans in Zimbabwe after 5 years.Methods Three hundred twenty-eight orphan adolescent girls were followed in a clust...

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Main Authors: Hallfors, D., Cho, H., Rusakaniko, S., Mapfumo, J., Iritani, B., Zhang, L., Luseno, W., Miller, Ted
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68933
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author Hallfors, D.
Cho, H.
Rusakaniko, S.
Mapfumo, J.
Iritani, B.
Zhang, L.
Luseno, W.
Miller, Ted
author_facet Hallfors, D.
Cho, H.
Rusakaniko, S.
Mapfumo, J.
Iritani, B.
Zhang, L.
Luseno, W.
Miller, Ted
author_sort Hallfors, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. Purpose We examine effects of school support as a structural HIV prevention intervention for adolescent female orphans in Zimbabwe after 5 years.Methods Three hundred twenty-eight orphan adolescent girls were followed in a clustered randomized controlled trial from 2007 to 2010. The experimental group received school fees, uniforms, and school supplies and were assigned a school-based "helper." In 2011-2012, the control group received delayed partial treatment of school fees only. At the final data point in 2012, survey, HIV, and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) biomarker data were collected from approximately 88% of the sample. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted on end point outcomes, controlling for age, religious affiliation, and baseline socioeconomic status.Results The two groups did not differ on HIV or HSV-2 biomarkers. The comprehensive 5-year intervention continued to reduce the likelihood of marriage, improve school retention, improve socioeconomic status (food security), and marginally maintain gains in quality of life, even after providing school fees to the control group.Conclusions Paying school fees and expenses resulted in significant improvements in life outcomes for orphan adolescent girls. Biological evidence of HIV infection prevention, however, was not observed. Our study adds to the growing body of research on school support as HIV prevention for girls in sub-Saharan Africa, but as yet, no clear picture of effectiveness has emerged.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-689332018-06-29T12:35:47Z The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans Hallfors, D. Cho, H. Rusakaniko, S. Mapfumo, J. Iritani, B. Zhang, L. Luseno, W. Miller, Ted © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. Purpose We examine effects of school support as a structural HIV prevention intervention for adolescent female orphans in Zimbabwe after 5 years.Methods Three hundred twenty-eight orphan adolescent girls were followed in a clustered randomized controlled trial from 2007 to 2010. The experimental group received school fees, uniforms, and school supplies and were assigned a school-based "helper." In 2011-2012, the control group received delayed partial treatment of school fees only. At the final data point in 2012, survey, HIV, and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) biomarker data were collected from approximately 88% of the sample. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted on end point outcomes, controlling for age, religious affiliation, and baseline socioeconomic status.Results The two groups did not differ on HIV or HSV-2 biomarkers. The comprehensive 5-year intervention continued to reduce the likelihood of marriage, improve school retention, improve socioeconomic status (food security), and marginally maintain gains in quality of life, even after providing school fees to the control group.Conclusions Paying school fees and expenses resulted in significant improvements in life outcomes for orphan adolescent girls. Biological evidence of HIV infection prevention, however, was not observed. Our study adds to the growing body of research on school support as HIV prevention for girls in sub-Saharan Africa, but as yet, no clear picture of effectiveness has emerged. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68933 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.09.004 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Hallfors, D.
Cho, H.
Rusakaniko, S.
Mapfumo, J.
Iritani, B.
Zhang, L.
Luseno, W.
Miller, Ted
The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
title The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
title_full The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
title_fullStr The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
title_full_unstemmed The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
title_short The impact of school subsidies on HIV-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
title_sort impact of school subsidies on hiv-related outcomes among adolescent female orphans
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68933