In-Person Social Interactions and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Household Size and Virtual Social Contact Among Midlife and Older Black South African Adults.

Objectives: The current study investigates how physical distancing during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with increased anxiety among a cohort of midlife older Black South African adults and the extent to which household size and virtual social contact modify this association for men and women.

Methods: We analyze data from a phone survey conducted from July 2021 to March 2022 as part of Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (n = 2,080). We employ logistic regression to estimate the association between changes in in-person social interactions and anxiety symptoms and examine whether the association is modified by household size and changes in virtual social contact.

Mortality transition over a quarter century in rural South Africa: findings from population surveillance in Agincourt 1993-2018.

Background: Mortality burden in South Africa since the mid-1990s has been characterized by a quadruple disease burden: HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB); other communicable diseases (excluding HIV/AIDS and TB), maternal causes, perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); and injuries. Causes from these broad groupings have persistently constituted the top 10 causes of death. However, proportions and rankings have varied over time, alongside overall mortality levels.

Pregnancy-related healthcare utilisation in Agincourt, South Africa, 1993-2018: a longitudinal surveillance study of rural mothers.

Introduction: Pregnancy-related health services, an important mediator of global health priorities, require robust health infrastructure. We described pregnancy-related healthcare utilisation among rural South African women from 1993 to 2018, a period of social, political and economic transition.

Methods: We included participants enrolled in the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, a population-based longitudinal cohort, who reported pregnancy between 1993 and 2018.

Protective Behaviors and Secondary Harms Resulting From Nonpharmaceutical Interventions During the COVID-19 Epidemic in South Africa: Multisite, Prospective Longitudinal Study.

Background: In March 2020, South Africa implemented strict nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain the spread of COVID-19. Over the subsequent 5 months, NPI policies were eased in stages according to a national strategy. COVID-19 spread throughout the country heterogeneously; the disease reached rural areas by July and case numbers peaked from July to August.

Protective behaviours and secondary harms from non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa: a multisite prospective longitudinal study.

Background: In March 2020 South Africa implemented strict non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain Covid-19. Over the subsequent five months NPIs were eased in stages according to national strategy. Covid-19 spread throughout the country heterogeneously, reaching rural areas by July and peaking in July-August.