HIV Status Disclosure Rate to a Sexual Partner, Associated Factors and Outcomes among Pregnant Women in PMTCT Care in Two Large HIV Facilities in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

HIV status disclosure to partners is critical in improving the health and well-being of mother-infant dyad in the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child (PMTCT) program. This study assesses the HIV disclosure rate to intimate partners, associated factors, and outcomes among women in the PMTCT program in two large HIV clinics in Abuja, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study employed a multi-stage sampling technique in selecting 220 pregnant women enrolled in PMTCT care in two clinics. Outcomes measures include HIV status disclosure to intimate partner, women’s viral suppression status (suppressed < 1000 copies/mL, unsuppressed ≥ 1000 copies/mL), and previous MTCT experience. Exposure variables include the participant’s socio-demographic characteristics and HIV care history. Data were presented using frequency tables. Simple and multivariate logistic regression was done to ascertain the predictors of HIV status disclosure and assess the association between HIV disclosure, viral suppression, and MTCT experience at a p-value of less than 0.05. Only 205 (96.7%) entries were completed and analyzed A larger percentage of the participants were married women, 158 (77.1%), within the age group 26 - 35 years (53.3%). Women’s HIV status disclosure rate to intimate partners was 49.3% (101/205). Factors associated with HIV disclosure rate to intimate partners at the univariate level were the participant’s age, Christian religion [COR: 1.80, 95%CI: 1.04 - 3.21, p = 0.04], full employment [COR: 1.92, 95%CI: 1.10 - 3.34, p = 0.02], HIV positivity prior to PMTCT enrollment [COR: 2.88, 95%CI: 1.26 - 6.59, p < 0.01], duration on antiretroviral therapy [COR: 1.07, 95%CI: 1.01 - 1.13, p = 0.03], and knowledge of partner’s HIV status [COR: 0.20, 95%CI: 0.08 - 0.51, p < 0.01]. Only HIV positivity prior to PMTCT enrollment [AOR: 3.27, 95%CI: 1.23 - 8.70, p < 0.01] and awareness of the partner’s HIV status, [AOR: 0.17, 95%CI: 0.06 - 0.49, p < 0.01] were significant predictors of HIV status disclosure after controlling for confounder. The two study outcomes; women’s viral suppression and MTCT experience were not significantly associated with participants’ HIV status disclosure to intimate partners. Our study shows that HIV disclosure to intimate partners is still a big challenge among pregnant women in PMTCT settings in Nigeria, with awareness of the partner’s HIV status and the type of patient enrollment in the PMTCT setting being the two strong predictors of pregnant women’s HIV disclosure status to partners.