Influence of marketing mix on adolescents’ voluntary HIV testing uptake in Tanzania: experience from physical evidence

Document Type

Article

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa

Abstract

Background In public health, traditional 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion) of the marketing mixhave been successfully used to inuence clients/patients to adopt desired health behaviors and healthstatus changes in reproductive health, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, child survival and human immuno-virus(HIV) interventions. However, the use of additional 3Ps (Physical evidence, People and Process) of themarketing mix have rarely been used in public health interventions. This study examined the inuence ofphysical evidence on voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) uptake among adolescents in Tanzania.

Methods A cross-sectional study design using quantitative method was conducted in Dodoma. A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select nine secondary schools and 449 study participants.Self-administered structured questionnaire was used. Data was analyzed using SPSS v17. Relationshipbetween independent and dependent variables was analyzed using binary logistic regression andcorrelation analysis with p-value of  0.5 regarded as signicant. Binary logistic regression was used todetermine predictors of VCT uptake. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze participants’characteristics and ranking of physical evidence variables’ on VCT uptake among adolescents.

Results Of 449 study participants, 54% and 46% were females and males respectively. The participants’age range was 12–19years. 96% of respondents had knowledge of VCT, 90.6% were willing to test forHIV, however; 78% had not tested for HIV. Physical evidence variable modern equipment was highlyranked inuential variable regarding VCT uptake. Independent variables modern equipment, physicalfacility, personnel and materials were found predictors of VCT uptake. Participant characteristics age andschool type were also predictors for VCT uptake.

Conclusions Despite majority of adolescents had knowledge on VCT service and were willing to test forHIV, VCT uptake was low. Meaning that knowledge and willingness a lone are not enough to inuenceVCT uptake. Physical evidence variables modern equipment, physical facility, personnel and materialswhen integrated in HIVprevention strategies and interventions can increase VCT uptake amongadolescents in Tanzania. Consideration of individual expectation variations and other predictor variableslike age and school type need to be incorporated in designing VCT interventions

Publication (Name of Journal)

Research Square

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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