Pregnant Women’s Knowledge and Beliefs About Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing in Birjand in 2018: An Assessment Using Health Belief Model

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women are at increased risk of HIV acquisition, whose rapid diagnosis not only saves the lives of the mother and fetus and prevents the infection of the husband, but also prevents the transmission of the virus to other people in the community. Objectives: In this line, this study aimed to assess pregnant women’s knowledge and beliefs in Birjand about voluntary HIV counseling and testing based on health belief model constructs. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 238 pregnant women referring to Birjand comprehensive health centers (CHC) in 2018 are studied. Participants were selected using multi-stage random sampling. First, Birjand was divided into four districts as north, south, east, and west. Then, one health center and one CHC were selected from each district. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of demographic information, knowledge, model constructs, and behavior, whose validity and reliability were determined. Data were analyzed using SPSS19 and independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. Results: The mean age of participants was 28.3 + 5.1 years. Mean score of knowledge, susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers and perceived self-efficacy were 5.9 + 3.6, 8.9 + 2.21, 23.7 + 4.7, 34.7 + 4.2, 28.2 + 5.9, and 24.5 + 7.3 respectively and behavior was determined to be 5%. Knowledge was evaluated to be poor in 1.7%, moderate in 51.7%, and good in 46.6%. There was a significant negative relationship between barriers and all model constructs (P < 0.05) and a significant positive relationship between knowledge with perceived susceptibility (r = 0.15) and guidance for action (r = 0.2), susceptibility with perceived severity (r = 0.23). Conclusions: This study showed the insufficiency of pregnant women’s knowledge about the importance of HIV screening. Therefore, it is recommended to use the Health Belief model in CHC to improve the knowledge, attitude, and practice of this target group.