Table 1

Comparison of socio-demographic, gender identity and hormone use characteristics of transgender women with and without a reactive HIV test

Socio-demographics, gender identity and hormone useTotal (n=1375)HIV test result
Reactive (n=81)Non-reactive (n=1294)
n (%)n (%)n (%)p Value*
Community type
 Urban1146 (83.4)75 (6.5)1071 (93.5)0.02
 Rural229 (16.6)6 (2.6)223 (97.4)
Age (years)
 18–24729 (53.0)22 (3.0)707 (97.0)<0.001
 25–34503 (36.6)41 (8.2)462 (91.8)
 ≥35143 (10.4)18 (12.6)125 (87.4)
Current marital status
 Married7 (0.5)0 (0.0)7 (100)0.47
 Widowed/divorced/separated18 (1.3)1 (5.6)17 (94.4)
 Never married1334 (97.2)78 (5.9)1256 (94.1)
 Refused to answer16 (1.2)2 (15.4)11 (84.6)
Years of formal education completed
 Primary (0–6 years)307 (22.3)32 (10.4)275 (89.6)<0.001
 High school or higher (>7 years)1068 (77.7)49 (4.6)1019 (95.4)
Main occupation
 Unemployed64 (4.7)6 (9.4)58 (90.6)0.03
 Hair dresser/beautician482 (35.1)24 (5.0)458 (95.0)
 Office worker50 (3.6)3 (6.0)47 (94.0)
 Labour/farmer241 (17.5)15 (6.2)226 (93.8)
 Seller149 (10.8)10 (6.7)139 (93.3)
 Entertainment worker203 (14.8)10 (4.9)193 (95.1)
 Student108 (7.9)1 (0.9)107 (99.1)
 Non-governmental organisation staff34 (2.5)7 (20.6)27 (79.4)
 Other44 (3.2)5 (11.4)39 (88.6)
Monthly income in the past six months (US$)
 <100351 (25.6)22 (6.3)329 (93.7)0.70
 100–199530 (38.6)29 (5.5)501 (94.5)
 200–299266 (19.3)19 (7.1)247 (92.9)
 ≥300226 (16.5)11 (4.9)215 (95.1)
Gender identity (self-identified)
 Female580 (42.2)29 (5.0)551 (95.0)0.35
 Third gender786 (57.2)52 (6.6)734 (93.4)
 Uncertain8 (0.6)0 (0.0)8 (100)
Frequency of dressing as a woman
 All the time660 (48.0)56 (8.5)604 (91.5)0.001
 Not all the time715 (52.0)25 (3.5)689 (96.5)
Ever injected hormones
 No1123 (81.7)58 (5.2)1065 (94.8)0.02
 Yes252 (18.3)23 (9.1)229 (90.9)
Ever self-injected hormones
 No1358 (98.8)77 (5.7)1281 (94.3)0.002
 Yes17 (1.2)4 (25.5)13 (76.5)
Ever shared needles when injecting hormones/beauty substances
 No1355 (98.5)78 (5.8)550 (94.2)0.33
 Yes20 (3.2)2 (10.0)18 (90.0)
Ever used online services developed for men who have sex with men/transgender (eg, Facebook, website)
 No483 (35.1)46 (9.5)437 (90.5)<0.001
 Yes892 (64.9)35 (3.9)857 (96.1)
  • 2 or Fisher’s exact test was used as appropriate.