Seropositive status disclosure to partners and safer sexual behaviours among people living with HIV: An issue in prevention and treatment

• Published in: The Nigerian postgraduate medical journal 2014-12, Vol.21 (4), p.338-342
• Main Authors: Balogun, T M, Awofala, B, Iredu, I C, Ajayi, A O, Ohakwere, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active - methods; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disclosure - statistics & numerical data; Female; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - therapy; HIV Seropositivity - epidemiology; HIV Seropositivity - therapy; Humans; Male; Marital Status - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Nigeria - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Sexual Partners; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1117-1936; 2468-6875
• DOI: 10.4103/1117-1936.163492

The objective of this study was to determine the rate of disclosure to sexual partners and consequent safer sexual practices among people living with HIV (PLHIV). This was a cross-sectional study. A semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect demographic data of age, gender, marital status as well as HIV status disclosureand consistent condom use. This information was collected from consenting consecutive antiretroviral-therapynaive PLHIV accessing care at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), southwest Nigeria. Collected data were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (version 10.0, spss) and group comparisons were done with chi square tests. A total of 443 respondents were interviewed. The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 75 years with a mean of 46.5±9. Majority 268 (60.5%) of respondents were females while 175 (39.5%) were males. The disclosure rate to sexual partners was 43 (9.7%) among studied PLHIV. Consistent condom use was highest (12.7%) among PLHIV who had disclosed to sexual partners while inconsistent use was highest (93.3%) among the undisclosed.p=0.26 CONCLUSION: This study reveals that there is a low sexual partner disclosure rate among studied PLHIV. Seropositive status disclosure to sexual partners was associated with consistent condom use.