Seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection among Infertile Women at a Tertiary Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Background: Since the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy, individuals living with HIV are living longer, with improved quality of life. However, HIV infection has a negative impact on the fertility potential of infected individuals. With the rising number of such individuals intending to exercise their reproductive intentions to have genetic offspring, each fertility clinic should devise strategies to help them realise such. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of HIV infection among the infertile women attending our gynaecology clinic. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the gynaecology clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria, from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019. Three hundred consecutive infertile women attending the clinic were recruited for the study based on the eligible criteria. Questionnaire was used to obtain the data of each subject. Rapid tests were conducted on the subjects’ venous blood to determine their HIV and HBV serostatus. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPPS), version 25.0. Frequency tables were generated and the level of significance set at less than 0.05. Results: The mean age was 32.32 years. Subjects were predominantly Christians (99%). Majority of them (99%) were married. Nine percent, 49% and 42% had primary, secondary and tertiary education respectively. The HIV seroprevalence of the subjects was 7.7%. The HBV seroprevalence of HIV positive subjects was 69.6%. The HIV and HBV coinfection rate was 65.2%. Spousal HIV seropositivity (p = 0.000), tuboperitoneal factor (p = 0.006) and HBV seropositivity (0.000) had a statistically significant association with subjects’ HIV seropositivity. Conclusion: The HIV seroprevalence of the infertile women in this study was high; the HBV seroprevalence and HBV coinfection rates were also high among the HIV positive subjects. It is pertinent for each fertility clinic to devise strategies to assist HIV positive infertile subjects to achieve their reproductive intentions.