Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus among women assessing ante-natal care at a tertiary health facility in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a pandemic with high prevalence rates worldwide with Sub-Saharan Africa's worst hit. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women attending Ante-Natal Clinic (ANC) at a tertiary health facility in Enugu State Nigeria. This was a prospective hospital-based study that involved all the women that attended ANC of a tertiary health facility in Nigeria. All the data were retrieved from the patient’s ante-natal cards and entered into a pro forma. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 and variables were presented as frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation. Chi-square test was used to determine factors that affected the prevalence of HIV, and this was performed with the level of significance set at p ≤ 0.05. All the women that attended ANC in the hospital were tested for HIV and the prevalence was 1.8%. Women between ages 21 – 30 years, married, had secondary education and with 3-4 children had the highest prevalence of HIV. The occupation was the only factor that significantly affected the prevalence of HIV with unskilled workers having the highest prevalence of 12.5%. HIV prevalence among pregnant women was relatively low.