Premium
Non‐disclosure of HIV serostatus to sexual partners: Prevalence, risk factors and clinical impact in patients with HIV
Author(s) -
Morkphrom E,
Ratanasuwan W,
Sittironnarit G,
Rattanaumpawan P
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hiv medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.53
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1468-1293
pISSN - 1464-2662
DOI - 10.1111/hiv.13005
Subject(s) - serostatus , medicine , confidence interval , odds ratio , observational study , sexual partner , demography , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , multivariate analysis , viral load , immunology , gonorrhea , sociology
Objective To determine the prevalence, risk factors and impact of non‐disclosure of HIV serostatus to sexual partners among HIV‐positive patients at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study to enrol HIV‐positive adults with one or more regular sexual partners during the past 3 months. We obtained personal information via anonymous questionnaire and clinical data of those receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for ≥12 months via chart‐review. Results A total of 328 HIV‐positive participants were enrolled. Approximately half were female and in the symptomatic HIV stage at diagnosis, with an average age 44.08 ± 8.59 years. Approximately one‐third of participants (35.7%) reported that they had not disclosed their HIV serostatus to their sexual partners. The non‐disclosure group had a higher rate of poor ART adherence owing to fear of revealing their HIV serostatus to their partner (12.0% vs . 1.9%; P < 0.001), as compared with the disclosure group. Rates of immunological and virological failure did not differ between groups. Multivariate analysis [adjusted odds ratio (OR); 95% confidence interval (CI); P‐ value] revealed having an occupation as a teacher (4.08; 1.40–16.61; P = 0.01) and reporting acquisition of HIV infection through blood transfusion (4.08; 1.31–12.68; P = 0.02) were independent risk factors. Furthermore, a longer duration of the sexual relationship (0.997; 0.994–0.999; P = 0.02), having a seropositive sexual partner (0.57; 0.33–0.99; P = 0.04), living in their partner’s house (0.53; 0.31–0.90; P = 0.02) and having a higher mean Pictorial Thai Self‐Esteem Scale (PTSS) score (0.62; 0.38–0.99; P = 0.05) were identified as independent protective factors. Conclusions We found a high prevalence of HIV serostatus non‐disclosure, which was associated with poorer ART adherence. Appropriately focusing interventions on high‐risk populations with aforementioned risk factors is important for improved HIV care.