TABLE 2.

Summary of ASPIRES Assessments of Economic Vulnerability Tools

Tool	Definition of Economic Vulnerability	Domains Assessed	Validation Measures	Findings
Côte d'Ivoire Vulnerability Assessment	The degree of inability of households to provide for the health, education, and nutritional needs of household members to mitigate the economic and health impact of HIV, cope with infection, and reduce their risk for acquiring HIV (for those without HIV).	Financial capital Physical capital Natural capital Social capital Human capital	Poverty likelihood Côte d'Ivoire Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)	The 4 components created using principal component analysis explained only 21% of the variance among items Component 1 was moderately correlated (r=.69) with the rCSI, FCS (r=.55), and PPI (r=.46) The 65 vulnerability measures examined did not cluster in ways that would allow for the creation of a small number of composite measures to develop a scale
Côte d'Ivoire Vulnerability Assessment			Food Security: Reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI) Food Consumption Score (FCS)
Uganda Simple Economic Strengthening Tool	PEPFAR classifications of: Destitute Struggling to make ends meet Prepared to grow Not vulnerable	Ability to pay for basic needs Consistency/volatility of income Availability of liquid assets and savings Food security Availability of assets to respond to shocks	Poverty likelihood Uganda Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)	Moderate, positive correlation with poverty likelihood (r=.43)
South Africa Household Tool	PEPFAR classifications of: Destitute Struggling to make ends meet Prepared to grow Not vulnerable	Ability to pay for basic needs Consistency/volatility of income Availability of liquid assets and savings Food security Availability of assets to respond to shocks	Poverty likelihood South Africa Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)	No significant association between poverty likelihood and tool classification (P=.25) No significant association between classifications generated during community ranking exercise and tool classification (P=.77) Modest association between self-classification and tool classification (weighted kappa=.32) Significant but non-linear association between data collector classification and tool classification (P=.003)
South Africa Household Tool			Local classifications Community rankings Self-classification Data collector classification
South Africa Girl Tool	The prevalence of economic factors that lead to transactional sex, and therefore increase risk for HIV.	Perception of needs met Pressure to contribute to the household Availability of cash Food security Shocks Safety nets Financial goals Control over assets Control over economic decision making Personal documentation Gender attitudes	Adolescent girls' HIV vulnerability Vulnerable Girls Index (VGI)	No statistically significant correlations between the Girl Tool and the VGI (P=.25)

Abbreviations: ASPIRES, Accelerating Strategies for Practical Innovation and Research in Economic Strengthening; PEPFAR, U.S. President's Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief.