Cases of HIV testing among pregnant women attending antenatal care during COVID-19 pandemic: analysis of data surveillance

Abstract

Introduction: During COVID-19 pandemic, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test surveillance of pregnant women visiting antenatal care (ANC) clinics was used to estimate participation of pregnant women in HIV testing. Socio-demographic recording of HIV patients was conducted to gain a better knowledge of the disease profile, and to aid into the development of more effective HIV prevention and care strategies. Demographic studies of pregnant women who test positive for HIV can serve as proxies for targeted HIV interventions in a wider community as well as mother-to-child transmission prevention. Material and methods: A total of 607 pregnant women, aged 15-49 years, who first visited ANC clinic during a period of January-March 2020 were enrolled. Samples were gathered for three months, or until target sample size was met. Chi-square test was performed to determine various age factors. Link between demographic characteristics and risk of HIV infection was determined using logistic regression approach with SPSS version 26.0. Results: Overall, no demographic variables were found to be substantially associated with HIV prevalence. However, research on demographic characteristics, history of HIV testing, and COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the most conducted tests were among young, less educated, primigravida, and rural women with poor socio-economic status. Conclusions: There is a relationship between parity, employment status, education level, and age and HIV testing among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 Termedia Publishing House Ltd.. All rights reserved.