scholarly journals Societal and individual drivers of fertility desires and intentions among people living with HIV: a cross sectional study of HIV clinic attendees in Soweto, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-184
Author(s):  
Penelope Chirambira ◽  
◽  
Sphiwe Madiba ◽  
Busisiwe Ntuli

<abstract><sec> <title>Background</title> <p>High proportion of people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are in the prime of their reproductive years desire to have children. There are limited studies that explore the range of fertility intentions for PLHIV. This study investigated the fertility desires and intentions of PLHIV and the associated factors.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Methods</title> <p>This was a cross-sectional study of 442 PLHIV receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) in health facilities in Soweto, an urban township that is situated in the City of Johannesburg in South Africa. STATA version 13 was used to analyze the data.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> <p>The participants' mean age was 36.3 years, 70% were females, 79.6% had at least one biological child, and 36% had 3+ children. Almost half (47%) expressed the desire for children, saying that this was because they had no biological children, or their partners wanted children, or they wanted children of a particular sex, or were feeling healthy after taking ART. An increased fertility desire was associated with absence of biological children (AOR = 5.06, 95% CI: 2.11–12.1) and with being married (AOR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.31–5.27). A decreased fertility desire was associated with being aged 36+ (AOR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.31–5.27), having primary education (AOR = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.01–1.30) and having ≥4 years of ART duration (AOR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.24–0.81).</p> </sec><sec> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Individual factors played a significant role in shaping the fertility desires of PLHIV in this setting. The high desire for children underscore the need to integrate reproductive health services in HIV and AIDS care and treatment services and develop safer conception programmes to help PLHIV to conceive and have children safely.</p> </sec></abstract>

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 373-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi ◽  
Maryam Ghadimi ◽  
Mahboubeh Hajiabdolbaghi ◽  
Mehrnaz Rasoolinejad ◽  
Ladan Abbasian ◽  
...  

Background: COVID-19 has spread globally with remarkable speed, and currently, there is limited data available exploring any aspect of the intersection between HIV and SARSCoV- 2 co-infection. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of clinical symptoms associated with COVID-19 among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Tehran, Iran. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 200 PLWH were recruited through the positive club via sampling, and completed the symptom-based questionnaire for COVID-19, which was delivered by trained peers. Results: Of 200 participants, respiratory symptoms, including cough, sputum, and shortness of breath, were the most prevalent among participants, but only one person developed symptoms collectively suggested COVID-19 and sought treatments. Conclusions: It appears that existing infection with HIV or receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) might reduce the susceptibility to the infection with SARS-CoV-2 or decrease the severity of the infection acquired. Further research is needed to understand causal mechanisms.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. e049824
Author(s):  
Andreas D Haas ◽  
Cordelia Kunzekwenyika ◽  
Stefanie Hossmann ◽  
Josphat Manzero ◽  
Janneke van Dijk ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo examine the proportion of people living with HIV who screen positive for common mental disorders (CMD) and the associations between CMD and self-reported adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART).SettingSixteen government-funded health facilities in the rural Bikita district of Zimbabwe.DesignCross-sectional study.ParticipantsHIV-positive non-pregnant adults, aged 18 years or older, who lived in Bikita district and had received ART for at least 6 months.Outcome measuresThe primary outcome was the proportion of participants screening positive for CMD defined as a Shona Symptoms Questionnaire score of 9 or greater. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of participants reporting suicidal ideation, perceptual symptoms and suboptimal ART adherence and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for factors associated with CMD, suicidal ideation, perceptual symptoms and suboptimal ART adherence.ResultsOut of 3480 adults, 18.8% (95% CI 14.8% to 23.7%) screened positive for CMD, 2.7% (95% CI 1.5% to 4.7%) reported suicidal ideations, and 1.5% (95% CI 0.9% to 2.6%) reported perceptual symptoms. Positive CMD screens were more common in women (aPR 1.67, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.35) than in men and were more common in adults aged 40–49 years (aPR 1.47, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.85) or aged 50–59 years (aPR 1.51, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.17) than in those 60 years or older. Positive CMD screen was associated with suboptimal adherence (aPR 1.53; 95% CI 1.37 to 1.70).ConclusionsA substantial proportion of people living with HIV in rural Zimbabwe are affected by CMD. There is a need to integrate mental health services and HIV programmes in rural Zimbabwe.Trial registration numberNCT03704805.


2021 ◽  
pp. 095646242110240
Author(s):  
Genesis S Huerta-Vera ◽  
Manuel A Amarista ◽  
Fernando A Mejía ◽  
Ana B Graña ◽  
Elsa V Gonzalez-Lagos ◽  
...  

Due to a huge crisis extensive to health services many Venezuelan people living with HIV (PLWH) had migrated abroad, including Peru where favorable laws were in place until June 2019. We describe the health status and epidemiological trends of PLWH from Venezuela at an HIV program in Lima. We analyzed baseline and follow-up data of all Venezuelan PLWH enrolled in our HIV program from January 2017 to December 2019. A cross-sectional study in a subsample served to describe ARV adherence and context of migration. Between 2017-2019 our HIV Program registered 398 Venezuelan PLWH, representing 20% of the 2018 annual enrollments; numbers decreased since mid-2019. The median age was 30 years (IQR 26;37) and 90.5% were men. Between 2017 and 2019, the proportion with diagnosis in Peru increased from 14.3% to 60.9%; of AIDS stage at entry, from 8.8% to 27.2%. By December 2019, 182/250 (72.8%) were still in care, and 43 (10.8%) had not started ART. Viral suppression evaluated in 195, was achieved in 71.8%. From 2017 to 2019, migrant PLWH arrived in worsened clinical conditions, with increasing diagnosis in Peru; the flow of migrant PLWH entering care diminished with less favorable laws. Viral suppression rates were suboptimal.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1035-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Castro ◽  
Raquel B. De Boni ◽  
Paula M. Luz ◽  
Luciane Velasque ◽  
Livia V. Lopes ◽  
...  

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e043941
Author(s):  
Tafadzwa Dhokotera ◽  
Julia Bohlius ◽  
Matthias Egger ◽  
Adrian Spoerri ◽  
Jabulani Ronnie Ncayiyana ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo determine the spectrum of cancers in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) living with and without HIV in South Africa.DesignCross-sectional study with cancer records provided by the National Cancer Registry (NCR) and HIV records from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).Setting and participantsThe NHLS is the largest provider of pathology services in the South African public sector. The NCR is a division of the NHLS. We included AYAs (aged 10–24 years) diagnosed with cancer by public health sector laboratories between 2004 and 2014 (n=8479). HIV status was obtained through record linkages and text mining.Primary and secondary outcomesWe determined the spectrum of cancers by HIV status in AYAs. We used multivariable logistic regression to describe the association of cancer in AYAs with HIV, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity and calendar period. We imputed (post hoc) the HIV status for AYA with unknown HIV status.Results8479 AYAs were diagnosed with cancer, HIV status was known for 45% (n=3812). Of those whose status was known, about half were HIV positive (n=1853). AYAs living with HIV were more likely to have Kaposi’s sarcoma (adjusted OR (aOR) 218, 95% CI 89.9 to 530), cervical cancer (aOR 2.18, 95% CI 1.23 to 3.89), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (aOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.69 to 2.66) and anogenital cancers other than cervix (aOR 2.73, 95% CI 1.27 to 5.86) than AYAs without HIV. About 44% (n=1062) of AYAs with HIV-related cancers had not been tested for HIV.ConclusionsTargeted HIV testing for AYAs diagnosed with cancer, followed by immediate start of antiretroviral therapy, screening for cervical precancer and vaccination against human papilloma virus is needed to decrease cancer burden in AYAs living with HIV in South Africa.


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