Abstract
Effectiveness of Anonymous and free Voluntary Counseling and Testing (AVCT) Centers in the HIV prevention and care can be threatened by a low use of its service delivery, especially in developing countries. This study was designed to obtain reliable data on the current state of the quality of the services and, evaluate the factors that are associated with use of one Accredited HIV/AIDS Treatment Center (AHTC). A cross-sectional and prospective study was conducted among adults attending the AHTC of the Douala Laquintinie Hospital (DLH), Cameroon. Anonymous interviews including both open and closed ended questions were conducted in participants selected by convenience sampling. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed using StataSE11 software (version 11 SE) in data analysis. Overall 80 (64%) of 125 adult volunteers for HIV testing reported that the reception at AHTC was excellent and 69.6% (80/115) of those who underwent the pre-test and among them, 49.6% were satisfied with the pre-test. Less than half of the participants were explained the merits of HIV testing. The interview was conducted in a confidential framework in 60% of those who underwent the pre-test and, 41.7% explained the merits of HIV testing. Among the 10 evaluated minimal items that the provider should have addressed, less than 6 items were done in 66.9% of the participants and between 9 and 10 items for 11.3%. Informed consent agreement was obtained in 89.60% of volunteers. Knowledge of HIV status was more reported among men than women who reported more requesting the HIV testing for prevention strategies for an exclusive sexual relation (p=0.038). The prevalence of HIV infection was 25.6% and, primary education remained significantly associated with higher risk of HIV infection in multivariate analysis (OR=0.11; IC95%=0.015-0.72; p=0.022). These results highlight the important of the appropriate sensibilization for the responsible implementation of the pretest counseling steps by health care providers in the AHTC of the DLH.
Highlights
The latest national data on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Cameroon dates back to 2004 and shows a persistent and widespread endemic situation in the country, and young women remain the most affected, in the 20-39 age groups [1, 2]
A total of 155 participants had been asked verbally when they came to the Accredited HIV/AIDS Treatment Center (AHTC) of Douala Laquintinie Hospital (DLH) whether they would like to Categorical variables were expressed as frequencies, do HIV test, among them 30 participants were excluded due to a health check-up requested
The level of service delivery on aspects related to HIV/AIDS has been evaluated by assessing through the issues that the provider should address, the advice it must provide and the information it must give before the HIV test implementation (Table 4)
Summary
The latest national data on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Cameroon dates back to 2004 and shows a persistent and widespread endemic situation in the country, and young women remain the most affected, in the 20-39 age groups [1, 2]. This study was designed to provide reliable information within the framework set out by the comprehensive PLHIV management service offering from the patient’s perspective attending the AHTC of Douala Laquintinie Hospital (DLH) located in the Littoral region of Cameroon and, where HIV prevalence was estimated at 4.6% in 2011, higher than the national prevalence of 4.3% [3] These results may help to develop better strategies for the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of epidemic prevention programs, from the people affected by this disease to an operational application of evidence among the general population
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