Increasing PMTCT knowledge and uptake of services among women of reproductive age using Community Resource Persons (CORPs) in Shendam, Plateau, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: In Nigeria, the total number of infants at risk of MTCT, assuming no multiple pregnancies is 259,000 with an estimated MTCT rate of 25-40%. Aim: The objective of the study was to determine the effect of training Community Resource Persons (CORPs) on the knowledge and uptake of PMTCT services among women of reproductive age in the communities. Methods: The study was a community-based, interventional study conducted among 833 women. Trained CORPs carried out house to house health education intervention for three months. Results: There were 833 married women of reproductive age recruited for the study. The mean age of the respondents were 29.6 ± 7.0 and 28.8 ± 6.1 years respectively for the intervention and control groups, the median age for both was 29 years. The comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS was low as only 35.5% of the respondents in the intervention group had good knowledge. This rose to 40.8% following intervention. Those with fair comprehensive knowledge of PMTCT improved from 54.5% to 67.8% at pre and post-intervention respectively, while in the control group it slightly declined from 58.1% to 57.5% at the beginning and end of the study. Uptake of PMTCT services among pregnant women in the intervention population improved from 58.1% to 65.4% compared to 62.7% to 63.0% in the control group. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated that the use of CORPs has significantly improved the knowledge and uptake of PMTCT among women of reproductive age in the intervention population. Therefore, CORPs should be used to improve the knowledge and uptake of PMTCT services.