Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa.
<h4>Background:</h4> <p>Identifying children at the highest risk of negative health effects is a prerequisite to effective public health policies in Southern Africa. A central ongoing debate is whether poverty, orphanhood or parental AIDS most reliably indicates child health risks....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Health and Medical Publishing Group
2013
|
| _version_ | 1797074608252256256 |
|---|---|
| author | Cluver, L Boyes, M Orkin, M Sherr, L |
| author_facet | Cluver, L Boyes, M Orkin, M Sherr, L |
| author_sort | Cluver, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <h4>Background:</h4> <p>Identifying children at the highest risk of negative health effects is a prerequisite to effective public health policies in Southern Africa. A central ongoing debate is whether poverty, orphanhood or parental AIDS most reliably indicates child health risks. Attempts to address this key question have been constrained by a lack of data allowing distinction of AIDS-specific parental death or morbidity from other causes of orphanhood and chronic illness.</p> <h4>Objectives:</h4> <p>To examine whether household poverty, orphanhood and parental illness (by AIDS or other causes) independently or interactively predict child health, developmental and HIV-infection risks.</p> <h4>Methods:</h4> <p>We interviewed 6 002 children aged 10 - 17 years in 2009 - 2011, using stratified random sampling in six urban and rural sites across three South African provinces. Outcomes were child mental health risks, educational risks and HIV-infection risks. Regression models that controlled for socio-demographic co-factors tested potential impacts and interactions of poverty, AIDS-specific and other orphanhood and parental illness status. RESULTS: Household poverty independently predicted child mental health and educational risks, AIDS orphanhood independently predicted mental health risks and parental AIDS illness independently predicted mental health, educational and HIV-infection risks. Interaction effects of poverty with AIDS orphanhood and parental AIDS illness were found across all outcomes. No effects, or interactions with poverty, were shown by AIDS-unrelated orphanhood or parental illness.</p> <h4>Conclusions:</h4> <p>The identification of children at highest risk requires recognition and measurement of both poverty and parental AIDS. This study shows negative impacts of poverty and AIDS-specific vulnerabilities distinct from orphanhood and adult illness more generally. Additionally, effects of interaction between family AIDS and poverty suggest that, where these co-exist, children are at highest risk of all.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:38:41Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:6e895ce4-64df-49f6-9cb9-e1fa5ce6e21b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:38:41Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Health and Medical Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:6e895ce4-64df-49f6-9cb9-e1fa5ce6e21b2022-03-26T19:25:11ZPoverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6e895ce4-64df-49f6-9cb9-e1fa5ce6e21bEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordHealth and Medical Publishing Group2013Cluver, LBoyes, MOrkin, MSherr, L<h4>Background:</h4> <p>Identifying children at the highest risk of negative health effects is a prerequisite to effective public health policies in Southern Africa. A central ongoing debate is whether poverty, orphanhood or parental AIDS most reliably indicates child health risks. Attempts to address this key question have been constrained by a lack of data allowing distinction of AIDS-specific parental death or morbidity from other causes of orphanhood and chronic illness.</p> <h4>Objectives:</h4> <p>To examine whether household poverty, orphanhood and parental illness (by AIDS or other causes) independently or interactively predict child health, developmental and HIV-infection risks.</p> <h4>Methods:</h4> <p>We interviewed 6 002 children aged 10 - 17 years in 2009 - 2011, using stratified random sampling in six urban and rural sites across three South African provinces. Outcomes were child mental health risks, educational risks and HIV-infection risks. Regression models that controlled for socio-demographic co-factors tested potential impacts and interactions of poverty, AIDS-specific and other orphanhood and parental illness status. RESULTS: Household poverty independently predicted child mental health and educational risks, AIDS orphanhood independently predicted mental health risks and parental AIDS illness independently predicted mental health, educational and HIV-infection risks. Interaction effects of poverty with AIDS orphanhood and parental AIDS illness were found across all outcomes. No effects, or interactions with poverty, were shown by AIDS-unrelated orphanhood or parental illness.</p> <h4>Conclusions:</h4> <p>The identification of children at highest risk requires recognition and measurement of both poverty and parental AIDS. This study shows negative impacts of poverty and AIDS-specific vulnerabilities distinct from orphanhood and adult illness more generally. Additionally, effects of interaction between family AIDS and poverty suggest that, where these co-exist, children are at highest risk of all.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Cluver, L Boyes, M Orkin, M Sherr, L Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa. |
| title | Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa. |
| title_full | Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa. |
| title_fullStr | Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa. |
| title_short | Poverty, AIDS and child health: identifying highest-risk children in South Africa. |
| title_sort | poverty aids and child health identifying highest risk children in south africa |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cluverl povertyaidsandchildhealthidentifyinghighestriskchildreninsouthafrica AT boyesm povertyaidsandchildhealthidentifyinghighestriskchildreninsouthafrica AT orkinm povertyaidsandchildhealthidentifyinghighestriskchildreninsouthafrica AT sherrl povertyaidsandchildhealthidentifyinghighestriskchildreninsouthafrica |