Use of effective family planning methods and frequency of sex among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected African women

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women, Blantyre, Malawi, 2003-2005.

Characteristics	level	HIV-infected (N = 809) ^a	HIV-uninfected(N = 797) ^a	P-value ^b
Age groups, years, n (%)	30+	229 (28.3)	198 (24.8)	< 0.0001
	25-29	281 (34.7)	206 (25.8)
	20-24	271 (33.5)	328 (41.2)
	< 20	28 (3.5)	65 (8.2)
Education^c, n (%)	Form 1-4 or above	241 (29.8)	237 (29.7)	0.91
	Grade 1-8	483 (59.8)	472 (59.2)
	No Schooling	84 (10.4)	88 (11.0)
Number of living children, median [IQR]		2 [2-3]	3 [2-4]	< 0.0001
Fertility intentions, n (%)	Have another child	215 (26.6)	468 (58.7)	< 0.0001
	Not decided/Not sure or No	30 (3.7)	21 (2.6)
	No more children	564 (69.7)	307 (38.5)
Family planning methods, n (%)	Effective ^d	453 (56.0)	568 (71.4)	< 0.0001
Family planning methods, n (%)	No or Other	356 (44.0)	229 (28.6)
Frequency of sex, n (%)	≤ 2	496 (61.4)	419 (52.7)	0.0004
Frequency of sex, n (%)	> 2	312 (38.6)	376 (47.3)
Treatments, n (%)	Intervention arm	404 (49.9)	399 (50.1)	0.96
Treatments, n (%)	Placebo arm	405 (50.1)	398(49.9)

^aExcluded women with tubal ligation (n = 80)
^bP values were calculated using Chi-square test for categorical variables, Wilcoxon Rank Sum test for continuous variables. All statistical tests were two-sided at the alpha=0.05 level. Statistically significant differences with a p-value equal to or less than 0.05 are italicized
^cEducation (Grade 1-8 of the elementary school; and Form 1-4 of secondary school)
^dEffective methods include Injectable contraceptives, oral contraceptives, Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD), and norplant; all other methods are classified as ‘others’

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