Bowen, P; Govender, R; Edwards, P and Cattell, K (2016) Demographic and lifestyle determinants of the HIV serostatus of construction workers. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 32nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2016, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
Testing for HIV/AIDS is essential for determining HIV serostatus and initiating subsequent treatment for those found to be infected. Construction workers are regarded as a high-risk group in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa. Factors that influence the serostatus of construction workers are thus important. A self-administered questionnaire survey of 512 construction workers in the Western Cape explored this issue and found that HIV+ workers have poorer education levels and lower AIDS-related knowledge than non-infected workers. However, contrary to claims in the literature, lifestyle factors, while inter-related to some extent, were not found to be significant correlates of serostatus. More active, and more carefully directed, awareness, counselling and testing campaigns are advocated for construction companies as part of their HIV intervention management policies. Imparting appropriate AIDS-related knowledge and lifestyle advice at a much earlier point in school curricula is also recommended.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction workers; HIV serostatus; determinants; South Africa |
| Index terms: | HIV/AIDS, questionnaire, testing, determinant, construction worker, South Africa, intervention management, pandemic, lifestyle, construction company, survey |
| Subjects: | professional practice, organization, data collection methods, risk assessment, practitioner, health conditions and diseases, demography, health risk and incident analysis, financial risk, Geography |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here