Predictors of Disclosure of Maternal HIV Status by Caregivers to their Children in an Inner-City Community in the United States

Disclosure of HIV status to children is a challenge parents living with HIV face. To evaluate predictors of maternal HIV disclosure in a low-income clinic in the U.S. that serves an African American, Hispanic and immigrant population with high HIV prevalence, 172 caregivers with 608 children completed a standardized survey. 

Caregivers were 93% female, 84% biological mothers, and 34% foreign born. Sixty-two (36 %) caregivers had at least one disclosed child, 42 of whom also had other nondisclosed children. Of all children, 581 (96%) were uninfected and 181 (30 %) were disclosed. Caregiver's U.S. birth, child's age, and increased HIV-stigma perception by caregiver predicted disclosure. Children were more often disclosed if their caregiver was born in the U.S. or reported higher HIV-related stigma. 

These findings suggest that complex family context may complicate disclosure, particularly among immigrants.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/eh7v2d

By:  Abdulrahman R1, Stuard E2, Vachon ME2, Nicholas C2, Neugebauer R3, Hagmann SH2, Purswani MU2.

• 1Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Environmental Health Department, New York, NY, USA. rozanabdul@gmail.com.
• 2Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, Bronx, NY, USA.
• 3Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA. 
• AIDS Behav. 2016 Mar 24. 

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

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