Unmet need for contraception among HIV-positive women in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

As mother-to-child transmission of HIV is difficult to predict and also hard to prevent in practice, pregnancy among women living with HIV/AIDS (WHA) needs to be taken with considerable aforethought. The prevention of unwanted pregnancy among WHA is therefore a public health issue. The aim of our study was to determine the unmet need for contraception among HIV-positive women and the associated factors. Ours was a cross-sectional study involving 425 non-pregnant WHA attending an adult HIV clinic in Nigeria. Interviewer-administered, structured questionnaires designed for the study were used to obtain data. The contraceptive uptake was 47% while the unmet need for contraception was 20%. There were significant associations between unmet need for contraception and age group (P < 0.001), religion (P < 0.001), ethnic group (P < 0.001), knowledge about contraceptives (P = 0.02), educational status (P = 0.01) and partners’ retroviral status (P = 0.008) The unmet need for contraception was high. Advocacy programs should perhaps be focused on older women, Christians and those with little or no education.