Utilization and Factors Associated with Uptake of Prevention of Mother- to - Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV Services among Antenatal Clinic Attendees at a Tertiary Health Facility in Akure, Ondo State | Chapter 2 | Current Trends in Disease and Health Vol. 3
Background:
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programmes provide
antiretroviral treatment to HIV-positive pregnant women to reduce the
likelihood of their infants acquiring the HIV. However
despite concerted efforts to scale-up PMTCT services in Nigeria, the coverage
and uptake of the service by pregnant women remain low.
Aim/Objective:
This study was carried out to assess the utilization and factors
associated with the uptake of PMTCT Services among pregnant women at a tertiary
health facility in Akure, Ondo State.
Methodology: This
research was an institutional based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted
over a period of one month (May 2018). The study population included pregnant
women accessing antenatal
care at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Akure, Ondo
State. Data was collected using interviewer administered questionnaire and
analyzed using SPSS Windows 20. The main outcome measured was the utilization
of PMTCT services. Factors associated with its utilization was assessed using
binary logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.
Results: A total of
400 pregnant women were interviewed with 100% response rate. The mean age of
the women was 32 years ± 4.8. The majority of them with their spouses were
educated up to the tertiary level. Their mean gestational age was 28 weeks ±
2.2 standard deviation. Among the respondents, 252 (63.2%) had been tested for
HIV in the index pregnancy while 148 (36.8%) were not yet tested, those not
tested identified lack of counsellors as their main reason. The average time
spent before the patients were seen at the clinic was reported to be too long
in 287 (71.7%), so 368 (92.5%) of the women were not satisfied with the
service. Factors found to be positively associated with PMTCT utilization were
the educational level of the women and their partners which could be in favour
of their utilizing PMTCT services and inadequate counsellors which may not be
in favour of utilization of the service.
Conclusion: All the
respondents did not utilize the PMTCT services in the index pregnancy and the
main reason being inadequate number of counsellors. There is the need to
improve the quality of PMTCT services in the study setting.
Author Details
Dr. (Mrs.)
Theresa Azonima Irinyenikan
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Medical Sciences
/ University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.
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