Sexual Anxiety Among Women Living with HIV in the Era of Antiretroviral Treatment Suppressing HIV Transmission

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Carter ◽  
◽  
Sophie Patterson ◽  
Mary Kestler ◽  
Alexandra de Pokomandy ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-148
Author(s):  
Kennedy M Ngowi ◽  
Eusebious Maro ◽  
Rob E Aarnoutse ◽  
Blandina T Mmbaga ◽  
Mirjam A. G Sprangers ◽  
...  

Background: Pregnant and breastfeeding Women Living with HIV (WLHIV) often have difficulties in reaching adequate levels of adherence (>95%) to Antiretroviral treatment. “Forgetting” is the most commonly mentioned reason. Sending reminders via SMS is expected to improve adherence. We conducted a pilot study to investigate acceptability, user experience and technical feasibility of sending reminder-SMS to WLHIV. Methods: This was a 6-months observational pilot-study among WLHIV attending antenatal and postnatal care at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, Tanzania. Women received a reminder-SMS 30 minutes before usual time of intake. One hour later, they received an SMS asking whether they took medication to which they could reply with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Messages were sent 3 times a week on randomly chosen days to prevent reliance on daily messages. We calculated the percentage of number of SMS delivered, failed to be delivered, and replied to. We analysed feedback from exit-interviews about experience with the SMS-reminders. Results: 25 women were enrolled (age 18-45), 2 were lost to follow up. 5,054 messages were sent of which 53 failed to be delivered (1%). 1,880 SMS were sent with a question if medication was taken; 1,012 (54%) messages were replied to, of which 1,003 (99%) were replied with ‘YES’ and closely to ‘YES’, and a total of 9 (1%) with ‘NO’ and ‘closely to NO’. 868 messages (46%) were not responded to due to either dropout, change of phone number, loss of phone or network failure. Results from 18 interviews showed that 16 (89%) women were satisfied with SMS reminders. 2 (11%) were concerned about unwanted disclosure because of the content ‘don’t forget to take medication’ and one reported other privacy issues (6%). 3 (17%) women experienced stigma. Conclusion: 99%of SMS being delivered indicates that SMS reminders in this resource-limited setting are technically feasible. However, concerns regarding privacy were noted, specifically the risk of unwanted disclosure and the experience of stigma. Participants indicated that being made aware of their adherence, motivated them to adhere better. However, personalised and more neutral content of the SMS might be a way to improving the intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lashanda Skerritt ◽  
Angela Kaida ◽  
Nadia O’Brien ◽  
Ann N. Burchell ◽  
Gillian Bartlett ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Women with an undetectable viral load can become pregnant and have children with no risk of HIV transmission to their sexual partners and low risk of transmission to their infants. Contemporary pregnancy intentions of women living with HIV in Canada are poorly understood, evidenced by high rates of unintended pregnancy and low uptake of contraceptives. Methods We used longitudinal survey data from the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) to measure and compare pregnancy intentions (Yes vs No vs Unsure) at baseline, 18-months and 36-months follow-up (from 2013 to 2018) among women living with HIV of reproductive age (16–49 years) and potential. We used Sankey diagrams to depict changes in pregnancy intentions over time and multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationship between pregnancy intention within 2 years and subsequent pregnancy. Results At baseline, 41.9% (119/284) of women intended to become pregnant, 43.3% did not, and 14.8% were unsure. Across 36-months of follow-up, 41.9% (119/284) of women changed their pregnancy intentions, with 25% changing from intending to not intending to become pregnant and 13.1% vice versa. Pregnancy intentions were not strongly associated with subsequent pregnancy between baseline and 18-months (aOR 1.44; 95% CI 0.53, 3.72) or between 18 and 36-months (aOR 2.17; 95% CI 0.92, 5.13). Conclusions Our findings underscore the need for healthcare providers to engage in ongoing discussions with women living with HIV to support their dynamic pregnancy intentions.


Author(s):  
William R. Short ◽  
Jason J. Schafer

Upon completion of this chapter, the reader should be able to describe the appropriate management of antiretrovirals for pregnant women living with HIV. Over time, research has demonstrated that proper prevention strategies and interventions during pregnancy, labor, and delivery can significantly reduce the rate of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. In 1994, a pivotal study in the field of HIV medicine, the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group 076, demonstrated that the use of zidovudine (ZDV) monotherapy during pregnancy substantially reduced the risk of HIV transmission to infants by 67% (...


Author(s):  
Henna Budhwani ◽  
Kristine Ria Hearld ◽  
Jodie Dionne-Odom ◽  
Simon Manga ◽  
Kathleen Nulah ◽  
...  

Objective: We examined patterns of contraceptive utilization by HIV status among women in Cameroon, hypothesizing that women living with HIV would utilize contraception at higher rates than their HIV-negative peers. Methods: Deidentified, clinical data from the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (2007-2013) were analyzed (N = 8995). Frequencies compared outcomes between women living with HIV (15.1%) and uninfected women. Multivariate analyses examined associates of contraceptive utilization and desire to become pregnant. Results: Contraceptive utilization was associated with higher education, living with HIV, monogamy, and higher parity ( P < .001). Women living with HIV had 66% higher odds of using contraceptives than their negative peers (odds ratio [OR]: 1.66, confidence interval [CI]: 1.45-1.91, P < .001). Polygamous women had 37% lower odds of using contraceptives compared to monogamous women (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.52-0.75, P < .001). Conclusion: Increasing contraceptive utilization in resource-constrained settings should be a priority for clinicians and researchers. Doing so could improve population health by reducing HIV transmission between partners and from mother to child.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Thompson ◽  
Yolanda Havenga ◽  
Susan Naude

Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are disproportionately affected by the virus and constitute 60% of the total HIV/AIDS infections in this region. Current recommendations endorse the involvement of people living with HIV in the development of programmes for people living with the virus. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the health literacy needs of women living with HIV. The research design was qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual. After women living with HIV/AIDS were sampled purposively, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women and qualitative content analysis done. The findings revealed that the women expressed a need to increase their knowledge about HIV/AIDS. The knowledge they needed ranged from basic pathophysiology about HIV/AIDS, to the impact of HIV/AIDS on their health, to an awareness of the modes of HIV transmission and methods of protecting others from being infected. Other important health literacy needs related to self-care and correct antiretroviral use. A need for psychosocial skills was also identified in order for women to build and maintain their relationships. Recommendations were made for nursing practice, education and further research, based on these findings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanyawee Puthanakit ◽  
Nattawan Thepnarong ◽  
Surasith Chaithongwongwatthana ◽  
Suvaporn Anugulruengkitt ◽  
Orawan Anunsittichai ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Nashid ◽  
S Khan ◽  
M Loutfy ◽  
J MacGillivray ◽  
M H Yudin ◽  
...  

Abstract The reduction in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission through breastmilk with maternal combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has led many pregnant women living with HIV and healthcare providers to question exclusive formula feeding in resource-rich settings. Here, we describe cART prophylaxis in 3 breastfed infants whose mothers had sustained virologic suppression; all 3 of these infants remained uninfected.


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