{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T04:27:21Z","timestamp":1787372841947,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000030","name":"U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["NU2GGH002302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NU2GGH002302"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000030","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["NU2GGH002302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NU2GGH002302"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/042twtr12","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health","IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The discordance between individuals\u2019 self-perceived risk of HIV infection and laboratory-confirmed risk has a significant impact on behaviours related to HIV prevention and timely initiation of treatment. Methods: Data was obtained from the sixth South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, and Behaviour Survey. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the sample characteristics and provide the prevalence of discordance. A multivariable multinomial logistic regression was employed to investigate factors associated with discordant results. Results: Of 34,528 participants, 4.1% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.7\u20134.5) were classified as HIV-positive with low perceived risk, while 11.5% (95% CI: 10.4\u201312.6) were classified as HIV-negative with high perceived risk and 1.0% (95% CI: 0.8\u20131.1) as self-misdiagnosed. Being HIV-positive with low perceived risk was significant among older ages (25\u201354 years) and lower among other races than Black Africans and those residing in rural informal areas. In contrast, being HIV-negative with high perceived risk of HIV risk was more common among participants aged 25\u201344 years, as well as those living in rural informal and rural formal areas, but lower among other races than Black Africans. The factor associated with self-misdiagnosis was being female. However, participants aged 15\u201324 years who were never married were less likely to self-misdiagnose. Conclusion: These findings highlight a significant discrepancy between perceived and laboratory-confirmed HIV risk, underscoring the importance of targeted interventions to improve risk perception accuracy. Enhancing individuals\u2019 understanding of their true risk may lead to better engagement in preventive measures and the timely initiation of treatment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph23081083","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T08:10:20Z","timestamp":1787213420000},"page":"1083","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Assessing Discordance Between Self-Perceived HIV Risk and Laboratory-Confirmed HIV Status in South Africa: Insights from the 2022 National Population-Based Survey"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5350-5203","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sbonelo","family":"Chamane","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"},{"name":"School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Inbarani","family":"Naidoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Musawenkosi","family":"Mabaso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8863-0903","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angeline Sibongile","family":"Ngcobo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Information and Corporate Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2780-4503","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Prudence","family":"Chambale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tebogo","family":"Sole-Moloto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lehlogonolo","family":"Makola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sean","family":"Jooste","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lesiba","family":"Molopa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thembelihle","family":"Ginyana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sizulu","family":"Moyo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"},{"name":"School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1275-2317","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nompumelelo","family":"Zungu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"},{"name":"School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khangelani","family":"Zuma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0038, South Africa"},{"name":"School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Maughan-Brown, B., and Venkataramani, A.S. 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