Voluntary HIV counseling and testing during prenatal care in Brazil
Rev. saúde pública
;
37(5): 552-558, out. 2003. tab
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-348042
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Voluntary HIV counseling and testing are provided to all Brazilian pregnant women with the purpose of reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission. The purpose of the study was to assess characteristics of HIV testing and identify factors associated with HIV counseling and testing.METHODS:
A cross-sectional study was carried out comprising 1,658 mothers living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Biological, reproductive and social variables were obtained from mothers by means of a standardized questionnaire. Being counseling about HIV testing was the dependent variable. Confidence intervals, chi-square test and hierarchical logistic model were used to determine the association between counseling and maternal variables.RESULTS:
Of 1,658 mothers interviewed, 1,603 or 96.7 percent (95 percent CI 95.7-97.5) underwent HIV testing, and 51 or 3.1 percent (95 percent CI 2.3-4.0) were not tested. Four (0.2 percent) refused to undergo testing after counseling. Of 51 women not tested in this study, 30 had undergone the testing previously. Of 1,603 women tested, 630 or 39.3 percent (95 percent CI 36.9-41.7) received counseling, 947 or 59.2 percent (95 percent CI 56.6-61.5) did not, and 26 (1.6 percent) did not inform. Low income, lack of prenatal care, late beginning of prenatal care, use of rapid testing, and receiving prenatal in the public sector were variables independently associated with a lower probability of getting counseling about HIV testing.CONCLUSIONS:
The study findings confirmed the high rate of prenatal HIV testing in Porto Alegre. However, women coming from less privileged social groups were less likely to receive information and benefit from counseling.
Full text:
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Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Pregnancy in Adolescence
/
Prenatal Care
/
Infant, Low Birth Weight
/
Infant, Premature
/
Fecundity Rate
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Risk factors
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Rev. saúde pública
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2003
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
/
United kingdom
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul/BR
/
University College of London/GB
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