Abstract
Background High fertility and aspiration to have more children are a normal phenomenon in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The desire of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to have children can have significant public health implications. Despite the growing number of women living with HIV/AIDS, the issues of fertility and childbearing intention have not been widely studied in Ethiopia. Objective To identify determinants of fertility desire among women living with HIV in the childbearing age attending antiretroviral therapy clinic at Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based case-control study was conducted in March 2019. Cases were women living with HIV who had fertility desire, and controls were those who had not. Data was collected using a face-to-face interview using a pretested questionnaire. The data was entered into EpiData 3.1 and exported to SPSS Version 24 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify candidate and independent determinants of fertility desire, respectively. Independent determinants associated with fertility desire were assessed using AORs with their corresponding 95% CIs at P value < 0.05 cutoff point. Results. Three hundred forty-four (115 cases and 229 controls) were included into the study with a 100% response rate. Age categories 15-24 (AOR: 4.1; 95% CI: 2.0, 8.4) and 25-34 (AOR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.2) years, not using family planning (AOR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.4, 4.0), and having a sexual partner (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.2) were independent predictors of fertility desire. Conclusions Age of women, family planning, and sexual partner were found to be the independent predictors of fertility desire among women living with HIV/AIDS. Policymakers and health care providers who are working on an ART clinic should try to consider the effects of these factors for women living with HIV while developing HIV/AIDS interventions and discussing on sexual and reproductive health issues with their clients, respectively.
Highlights
An estimated 36.7 million people were living with HIV/Acquired immune deficiency syndrome Age categories 15-24 (AOR) (AIDS); over 25.5 million of them are in Africa where 76% of all HIV-positive women live in sub-Saharan Africa.Acquired immune deficiency syndrome AOR (AIDS)-related illnesses remain the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age (15–49 years)
Understanding the desire for fertility among women living with HIV/AIDS has a significant role to reduce mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV with the introduction of Antiretroviral therapy COR (ART), which changes the views of childbearing despite having the disease [31]
This study revealed that age of the women, family planning, and permanent sexual partner were the independent determinants of fertility desire among women living with HIV attending ART at Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC)
Summary
An estimated 36.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS; over 25.5 million of them are in Africa where 76% of all HIV-positive women live in sub-Saharan Africa.AIDS-related illnesses remain the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age (15–49 years). Despite the growing number of women living with HIV/AIDS, the issues of fertility and childbearing intention have not been widely studied in Ethiopia. To identify determinants of fertility desire among women living with HIV in the childbearing age attending antiretroviral therapy clinic at Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia. Cases were women living with HIV who had fertility desire, and controls were those who had not. Family planning, and sexual partner were found to be the independent predictors of fertility desire among women living with HIV/AIDS. Policymakers and health care providers who are working on an ART clinic should try to consider the effects of these factors for women living with HIV while developing HIV/AIDS interventions and discussing on sexual and reproductive health issues with their clients, respectively
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