Male Partner Involvement In Prevention Of Mother-To-Child Transmission Of HIV Among Women Attending State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria

ABSTRACT The study assessed the level of knowledge of HIV positive women on mother to child transmission of HIV (MTCT) and the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and the role of male partners in PMTCT of HIV; and identified the factors influencing male partner involvement in PMTCT of HIV among women of reproductive age group receiving care at State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State. The study was a descriptive cross sectional survey that employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The study population for the quantitative survey was HIV positive pregnant and non-pregnant women receiving care at the ART centre while those for the qualitative survey were male partners of HIV positive women receiving care at the centre and selected health workers. For the quantitative survey, 270 HIV positive pregnant and non-pregnant women were recruited using Systematic sampling technique. Data was collected using pre-tested interviewer administered semi- structured questionnaire and analyzed in stages using SPSS version 20.0. Participants in the qualitative survey were purposely selected based on their involvement in PMTCT and PMTCT services and qualitative data was collected through a focus guide applied on male partners of the HIV positive women and key informant guide applied on the selected health workers. Data collected from the qualitative survey was analyzed using content analysis and reported verbatim based on subthemes. The study showed that 85.9% of the respondents have heard of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV, 68.5% had poor knowledge of PMTCT while 31.5% had good knowledge. Sixty one percent of male partners were not counseled and tested for HIV the last time their spouse were pregnant while 52.6% of the male partners had never visited the PMTCT clinic. The proportion of HIV positive women who had higher education (66.9%) with inadequate partner involvement in PMTCT of HIV was significantly higher than the proportion of those with lower education (45.2%) and inadequate partner involvement (x2=12.375, p=0.001). Also, the proportion of HIV positive women who were married (61.2%) with inadequate partner involvement in PMTCT of HIV was significantly higher than the proportion of those who were not married (45.7%) (x2=3.781, p=0.052). More so, the proportion of HIV positive women who had poor knowledge (66.5%) with inadequate partner involvement was significantly higher than those with good knowledge (41.2%) (x2=15.37, p=0.001). This shows that the HIV positive women’s Educational status and knowledge of PMTCT are both statistically significantly associated with male partner involvement in PMTCT. The HIV positive women with lower education were more than twice likely to have their male partners involved in PMTCT than those with higher education (OR=2.27, 95% CI=1.35-3.81, p=0.002). Also the HIV positive women with good knowledge of PMTCT were more than twice likely to have their male partners involved in PMTCT than those with poor knowledge of PMTCT (OR=2.65, 95% CI=1.54-4.56, p=0.001). For the qualitative survey, most of the respondents had heard about PMTCT and PMTCT services, knew that men had significant roles to play when their wives were pregnant; including emotional and financial support but majority of them said the major barriers to male partner involvement in PMTCT included stigmatization, tight job schedule, financial constraints and cultural beliefs. This study concluded that majority of the respondents had a poor knowledge of PMTCT of HIV; and the level of male involvement in PMTCT was low. Fear of stigmatization, tight job schedule, financial constraints and cultural beliefs were noted as factors that significantly influenced the level of male partners in PMTCT of HIV. Keywords: Prevention of mother to child transmission, HIV