Correlates of fertility intentions among HIV/AIDS patients in northern Nigeria

Abstract

Little research has been conducted regarding the reproductive intentions of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in northern Nigeria. We studied reproductive desires and their predictors among 340 PLWHA receiving care at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Of all respondents, 60 (70.6%) of males and 177 (69.4%) of females were sexually active. Only 65 (19.4%) of them used condoms. One hundred and sixty seven females (65.5%) and 52 (61.2%) males expressed a desire to have more children. Out of these, 16 (7.3%), 106 (48.4%) and 88 (40.2%) wanted to have one, two and three or more children respectively. Significant predictors of higher fertility desires were; religion (OR=1.8), duration of diagnosis (OR=0.42), low parity (OR=6.03) and awareness of partner's scrostatus (OR=2.3). A large proportion of the HIV-positive individuals in the study were sexually active, desired to have children, and wanted to use family planning, indicating unmet need for reproductive health counseling in general and family planning in particular.