An integrated model of HIV/AIDS testing behaviour in the construction industry

The South African construction industry is one of the economic sectors most adversely affected by the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. Prevalence rates exceed those of most other sectors. Little is known about the antibody testing behaviour of construction workers, and the determinants thereof. A field-administered questionnaire survey, using an item catalogue based on similar surveys, gathered data from 512 site-based construction employees in the Western Cape, South Africa. An integrated hypothesized conceptual model of testing behaviour, derived from the literature, was proposed as a starting point for data analysis. This model comprising demographic factors, lifestyle risk and condom use, alcohol consumption, drug use, knowledge about HIV/AIDS, prejudice towards HIV+ persons, and attitudinal fear of being tested, was used to explain testing behaviour. Bivariate analysis, regression modelling, and structural equation modelling were then used to test the conceptual model. A revised model was proposed. The findings indicate that: (1) employment type, alcohol consumption, drug use, and HIV/AIDS knowledge are the terminal predictors of testing behaviour; (2) knowledge about the disease is determined by education level and ethnicity; (3) age, gender, ethnicity and education behave as significant predictors of alcohol consumption; (4) drug use is predicted by employment type, education and alcohol consumption (marginally); and (5) the interrelationship between knowledge, prejudice, and fear of being tested is nuanced and complex.