Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014;26(6):790-4.
doi: 10.1080/09540121.2013.855297. Epub 2013 Nov 8.

HIV testing of male partners of pregnant women in Porto Alegre, Brazil: a potential strategy for reduction of HIV seroconversion during pregnancy

Nava Yeganeh  1 , Mariana Simon, Claire Dillavou, Ivana Varella, Breno Riegel Santos, Marineide Melo, Rosana Fonseca, Rita Lira, Pamina Gorbach, Karin Nielsen-Saines
Affiliations

HIV testing of male partners of pregnant women in Porto Alegre, Brazil: a potential strategy for reduction of HIV seroconversion during pregnancy

Nava Yeganeh et al. AIDS Care. 2014.

Abstract

Pregnant women have a significantly higher risk of HIV acquisition during gestation than their non-pregnant counterparts due to behavioral and biological factors. Acute seroconversion during gestation results in increased HIV mother-to-child transmission rates and has been identified as a major public health challenge. In order to address potential HIV seroconversion in our pregnant patients, we conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate the acceptability of offering HIV testing to sexual partners of HIV-negative pregnant women receiving antenatal care at two hospitals in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Over a 14-month study period, HIV-negative pregnant women at two hospital-based clinic sites were encouraged to bring their stable sexual partner for HIV voluntary counseling and testing during prenatal care. Women were re-interviewed following delivery to measure success of the intervention. Of the 1223 HIV-negative pregnant women enrolled in the study, 663 (54%) of their male sexual partners received HIV testing during antenatal care and 4 (0.6%) were diagnosed with HIV infection. A total of 645 women were interviewed at the time of delivery, with 620 (97%) confirming that HIV testing was suggested to their partner. The most common reason provided by women as to why partners did not come for testing was work (69%) and lack of perceived risk (14%). Independent predictors of successful partner testing included being white (odds ratio [OR] 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-2.12), married (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.08-2.94), having an older age of sexual debut (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.9-0.98), and being recruited at Hospital Conceiçao (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.52-2.88). We conclude that HIV partner testing during prenatal care is acceptable, rendering this intervention attractive to public health programs targeting prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Enrollment diagram showing enrollment of all participants in our partner testing intervention.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Desgrees-Du-Lou A, Brou H, Djohan G, Becquet R, Ekouevi DK, Zanou B, Leroy V. Beneficial effects of offering prenatal HIV counselling and testing on developing a HIV preventive attitude among couples. Abidjan, 2002–2005. AIDS Behav. 2009;13(2):348–355. doi: 10.1007/s10461-007-9316-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Falnes EF, Moland KM, Tylleskar T, de Paoli MM, Msuya SE, Engebretsen IM. “It is her responsibility”: partner involvement in prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV programmes, northern Tanzania. J Int AIDS Soc. 2011;14:21. doi: 10.1186/1758-2652-14-21. 1758-2652-14-21 [pii] - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Farquhar C, Kiarie JN, Richardson BA, Kabura MN, John FN, Nduati RW, John-Stewart GC. Antenatal couple counseling increases uptake of interventions to prevent HIV-1 transmission. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2004;37(5):1620–1626. 00126334-200412150-00016 [pii] - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gay CL, Mwapasa V, Murdoch DM, Kwiek JJ, Fiscus SA, Meshnick SR, Cohen MS. Acute HIV infection among pregnant women in Malawi. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 66(4):356–360. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gray RH, Li X, Kigozi G, Serwadda D, Brahmbhatt H, Wabwire-Mangen F, Wawer MJ. Increased risk of incident HIV during pregnancy in Rakai, Uganda: a prospective study. Lancet. 2005;366(9492):1182–1188. - PubMed

Publication types