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Resumption of sexual activity and regular menses after childbirth among women infected with HIV in Malawi
Author(s) -
Makanani Bonus,
Kumwenda Johnstone,
Kumwenda Newton,
Chen Shu,
Tsui Amy,
Taha Taha E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijgo.2009.08.014
Subject(s) - breastfeeding , medicine , childbirth , hazard ratio , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , obstetrics , demography , proportional hazards model , pregnancy , gynecology , pediatrics , immunology , biology , confidence interval , genetics , sociology
Objective To determine the factors associated with resumption of sexual activity and regular menses after childbirth among women infected with HIV‐1. Methods Information on sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical factors was obtained from 2 HIV perinatal studies (NVAZ and PEPI trials) conducted in Malawi, 2000–2009. Factors associated with resumption of sexual activity and menses were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models. Results A total of 1838 women from the NVAZ study and 2982 women from the PEPI study were included in the analysis. Resumption of sexual activity was primarily associated with sociodemographic factors (e.g. in the PEPI study, marital status [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.56, P < 0.001], use of contraceptive method [aHR 8.0, P < 0.001], and breastfeeding [aHR 0.52, P < 0.001]), whereas resumption of regular menses in the PEPI study was primarily associated with biological factors (e.g. plasma viral load [aHR 0.89, P < 0.006], and breastfeeding [aHR 0.23, P < 0.001). Conclusion HIV‐infected women need adequate counseling to take into account their HIV infection status before resuming sexual activity after childbirth.