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Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and Attitude Toward Voluntary Counselling and Testing Among Antenatal Clinic Attendees at a Tertiary Care Hospital in India

The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India volume 65, pages 104–110 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Background/Purpose

Maternal to child transmission (MTCT) is responsible for over 90 % of all childhood HIV infections. Lack of awareness regarding HIV and preventive practices against MTCT maybe one of the reasons behind high HIV transmission rates. In our study, we assessed the knowledge of HIV/AIDS in antenatal women, attending a tertiary care hospital in India as well as their attitude toward voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV.

Materials and Methods

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out from May–July 2012 using a pretested interview-based questionnaire given to 386 antenatal women after obtaining consent. Data were abstracted for knowledge of HIV, MTCT, and attitude toward VCT. Results were expressed as percentages using SPSS v.16 software.

Results

Amongst the respondents, 92.5 % had heard of HIV and in 41 % of them, the source of information was through mass media. 81 % were aware of sexual intercourse as a mode of transmission of HIV while 55 % knew that sharing sharp objects and infected blood products can spread HIV. 37.6 % of respondents were aware of MTCT and 44 % heard of antiretroviral therapy as a method of prevention of MTCT. While 68 % were willing to get tested for HIV, 18.9 % knew about the steps involved and 44 % knew where to get VCT.

Conclusion

There exists a lack of adequate knowledge regarding HIV and preventive practices against MTCT. Health education and awareness campaigns on MTCT prevention and VCT promotion should target women in their antenatal period in order to increase acceptability and accessibility of these services.

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Compliance with ethical requirements and Conflict of interest

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study. Haritha Sagili, Swarup Kumar, Subitha Lakshminarayanan, Dasari Papa, and C. Abi declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Affiliations

  1. Associate Professor, Intern, Professor, Senior Resident, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Dhanvantari Nagar, Pondicherry, 605005, India

    H. Sagili, S. Kumar, D. Papa & C. Abi

  2. Senior Resident, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, India

    S. Lakshminarayanan

Authors
  1. H. Sagili
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  2. S. Kumar
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  3. S. Lakshminarayanan
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  4. D. Papa
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  5. C. Abi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Kumar.

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Sagili, H., Kumar, S., Lakshminarayanan, S. et al. Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and Attitude Toward Voluntary Counselling and Testing Among Antenatal Clinic Attendees at a Tertiary Care Hospital in India. J Obstet Gynecol India 65, 104–110 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-014-0606-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-014-0606-4

Keywords

  • HIV/AIDS
  • Maternal to child transmission (MTCT)
  • Voluntary counseling
  • Testing (VCT)
  • Antiretroviral therapy