Burden of infection among heads and non-head of rural households in Rakai, Uganda

The objective was to determine HIV prevalence, symptomatology and mortality among adult heads and non-heads of households, in order to assess the burden of HIV on households. It was a community study of 11,536 adults aged 15–59, residing in 4,962 households in 56 villages, Rakai district, Uganda. First, 4,962 heads and 6,574 non-heads of households were identified from censuses. Interviews were then used to determine socio-demographic/behavioural characteristics. HIV seroprevalence was diagnosed by two EIAs with Western blot confirmation. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of HIV infection in household heads and non-heads were estimated by multivariate logistic regression. Age-adjusted mortality was also assessed. HIV prevalence was 16.9% in the population, and 21.5% of households had at least one HIV-infected person (<0.0001). HIV prevalence was higher among heads than non-heads of households (21.5 and 13.3%, respectively, OR=1.79; CI 1.62–1.97). Most household heads were male...