Contraceptive Practices and Fertility Desires among HIV-Infected and Uninfected Women in Kenya: Results From a Nationally Representative Study

Background

Prevention of unplanned pregnancies is a critical element in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection, but its potential has not been fully realized. We assessed the utilization of family planning (FP) and fertility desires among women of reproductive age by HIV status.

Methods

We selected a nationally representative sample of households using a stratified 2-stage cluster design and surveyed women aged 15–49 years. We administered questionnaires and examined predictors of current use of FP and desire for children among sexually active women with known HIV infection and women who were HIV uninfected.

Results

Of 3583 respondents, 68.2% were currently using FP, and 57.7% did not desire children in the future. Among women who did not desire children in the future, 70.9% reported that they were using FP, including 68.7% of women with known HIV infection and 71.0% of women who were HIV uninfected. Women with known HIV infection had similar odds of using FP as women with no HIV infection (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval: 0.81 to 1.54). Women with no HIV infection had significantly higher adjusted odds of desiring future children (adjusted OR, 2.27; 95% confidence interval: 1.31 to 3.93) than women with known HIV infection.

Conclusions

There is unmet need for FP for HIV-infected women, underscoring a gap in the national prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV strategy. Efforts to empower HIV-infected women to prevent unintended pregnancies should lead to expanded access to contraceptive methods and take into account women’s reproductive intentions.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/oY8118

By:  Evelyn W. Ngugi, MBChB, MPH,* Andrea A. Kim, PhD, MPH,* Raymond Nyoka, MSc,* Lucy Ng’ang’a, MBChB, MPH,*Irene Mukui, MBChB,† Bernadette Ng’eno, MBChB, MMed,* and George W. Rutherford, MD, AM‡, for the KAIS Study Group

^*Division of Global HIV/AIDS, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nairobi, Kenya

^†National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Control Programme, Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya

^‡Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Correspondence to: Evelyn W. Ngugi, MBChB, Division of Global HIV/AIDS, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PO Box 606-00621, Village Market, Nairobi, Kenya

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: http://twitter.com/Prison Health