Abstract
BackgroundWorldwide heterosexual sex is the most common mode of HIV transmission, with the marital heterosexual route becoming a major contributor in sub-Sahara Africa. This study examined the role of inappropriate HIV status disclosure, after diagnosis, on marital sexual experiences of HIV positive women.MethodsThe study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. An interviewer administered questionnaire that elicited information about HIV status disclosure to partners, sexual experiences, condom use and parity was administered to 122 married women living with HIV/AIDS. Participants were referred from peripheral health centres to receive comprehensive HIV care at the State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria.ResultsMean age (SD) of respondents was 33.8 (8.9) years. Only 23.8% of partners had HIV screening, with 3.3% being HIV positive. A majority (62%) of respondents reported experiencing marital sex deprivation since their partners became aware of their HIV status. There was a reported rejection (74.3%) of condom use by partners during sexual intercourse. Fear of becoming infected (85.7%) and blaming the women for their positive status (85.7%) were the main reasons the respondents gave for being sexually deprived by their partners.ConclusionInappropriate status disclosure due to poor HIV counseling and testing (HCT) practices resulted in sexual deprivation of married HIV positive women. Adequate training and retraining of health care workers on HCT and HIV status disclosure will reduce experience of sexual deprivation among married HIV positive women.
Highlights
Worldwide heterosexual sex is the most common mode of HIV transmission, with the marital heterosexual route becoming a major contributor in sub-Sahara Africa
Since 1986, when the first Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) case was reported in Nigeria, the disease has spread to every Nigerian community [3,4,5]
This study examined the role of inappropriate HIV status disclosure on the marital sexual experiences of HIV positive women accessing care at the Osun State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria
Summary
Worldwide heterosexual sex is the most common mode of HIV transmission, with the marital heterosexual route becoming a major contributor in sub-Sahara Africa. The sub-Sahara African region is home to most people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (PLWHA), with Nigeria having the third highest population worldwide, after South Africa and India [1,2]. Since 1986, when the first Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) case was reported in Nigeria, the disease has spread to every Nigerian community [3,4,5]. Marital sex is becoming a major route of HIV transmission due to the high sexual activity among couples who desire to have children but have never had HIV counseling and testing [9,10] and poor condom use among couples [11,12]. Other modes of transmission include blood and blood products, injecting drug use and mother to child transmission during pregnancy, labour and breast feeding [2,4,8]
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