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AHRI:Sesikhona! (we are here) Activity Space

South Africa, 2024 - 2025
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Reference ID
AHRI.Sesikhona.ActivitySpace.Survey
Producer(s)
Prof. Frank Tanser(Principal Investigator), Prof Adrian Dobra, Prof Till Barnighausen
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Dec 04, 2025
Last modified
Jun 11, 2026
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6327
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  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Sampling
  • Data collection
  • Data processing
  • Access policy
  • Metadata production

    • Identification

    Survey ID number
    AHRI.Sesikhona.ActivitySpace.Survey
    Title
    AHRI:Sesikhona! (we are here) Activity Space
    Country
    Name Country code
    South Africa ZA
    Abstract
    The Sesikhona study is the first of its kind study using smartphone-based GPS technology to record ultra-high resolution mobility patterns of over 200 young adults aged 20-30 years in rural KwaZulu Natal. The study seeks to identify distinct movement typologies within this highly mobile, HIV hyper-endemic population and to quantify travel in and out of known high-risk locations, with the long-term goal of developing a location-intelligent smartphone intervention that delivers real-time, precision messaging to individuals at heighten risk of HIV acquisition, transmission or treatment interruption. Conducted in three phases between 2021 and 2025, the study used the Avicenna Research Platform to collect GPS and survey data. Between 2023 and 2025, consenting individuals self-completed surveys bi- daily and monthly based on their travel, mobility and activity space questions to validate the collected GPS location data, understand reasons for travel and planning thereof. 25978, 25237, 25236, 25235, 22768, 22766
    Kind of Data
    Survey data
    Unit of Analysis
    Young adults aged 20-30 years old

    Version

    Version Description
    v1.1.0

    Scope

    Topics
    Topic Vocabulary URI
    GPS technology, smartphone-based GPS, human mobility, young adults, HIV, mobile health, digital technology, mental health Africa Health Research Institute
    Keywords
    Human mobility, HIV, GPS technology, digital technology, travel, mobility and activity space

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage
    Residents from uMkhanyakude in KwaZulu Natal but move anywhere in South Africa
    Universe
    A random sample of adults aged 20-30 years old who were residents in Southern PIPSA, participated in the 2019 HIV surveillance and consented to participate in Sesiskhona study and opted in for the sexual behavior surveys

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Prof. Frank Tanser(Principal Investigator) Africa Health Research Institute/ Stellenbosch University
    Prof Adrian Dobra University of Washington
    Prof Till Barnighausen Africa Health Research Institute/Medical Faculty and University Hospital, Heildelberg University, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg, Germany
    Producers
    Name
    Africa Health Research Institute
    Funding Agency/Sponsor
    Name Abbreviation Role
    National Institute of Health NIH Funder
    German Science Foundation DFG Funder
    Academy of Medical Sciences Newton Fund NAF Funder

    Sampling

    Sampling Procedure
    Participants were randomly selected from the 2019 AHRI HIV surveillance program if they were aged 20-30 years old and had participated in the HIV survey in 2019 and were resident members in the southern PIP and owned a smartphone that supported the study app.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2024-10-01 2025-06-30

    Data processing

    Data Editing
    Travel, Mobility and Activity space survey responses from Sesikhona participants via the Avicenna app

    Access policy

    Access conditions
    Access to the data requires accurate completion of the online data access application form accessible on the AHRI Data repository(<https://data.ahri.org/>). Data users are required to abide by the data use conditions stipulated on the application for access to the data. Failure to do so may result in their data access privileges being revoked by the Data Custodian. In order to recognise the effort and intellectual contributions of AHRI investigators in producing and curating the data, users of AHRI data must acknowledge the source of the data and abide by the terms and conditions under which the data is accessed and must cite the dataset in publication using the citation provided as part of this documentation. All analytical datasets published on the AHRI Data Repository are assigned digital object identifier (DOIs) and the DOIs can be found on the Data Repository under Study Description tab - Access policy. AHRI data users are required to always cite the dataset using the relevant DOI.
    Citation requirements
    Tanse, F., Dobra, A., & Barnighausen, T. (2025). AHRI:Sesikhona! (we are here) Activity Space [Data set]. Africa Health Research Institute.

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.23664/AHRI.SESIKHONA.ACTIVITYSPACE.SURVEY

    Metadata production

    DDI Document ID
    DDI.AHRI.Sesikhona.ActivitySpace.Survey
    Producers
    Name Abbreviation
    Africa Health Research Institute AHRI
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