HIV Status and Use of Contraceptives Among Women of Reproductive Age Group Attending the State Specialist Hospital Akure, 2017: A Comparative Study

Background: Globally, in 2015 there were about 17.8 million women living with HIV (WLHA) and about 80% were in their reproductive age and lived in sub-Saharan Africa. WLHA are advised to limit family size and have access to the use of safe and effective contraceptive methods. Objective: We investigated the association between HIV status and contraceptive use. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional comparative study in which we systematically sampled 500 HIV-positive and 500 HIV-negative women of reproductive age group at the Anti-retroviral and General outpatient clinics of the State Specialist Hospital, Akure. We collected data using interviewer-administered questionnaire. We calculated proportions, odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We conducted multiple logistic regression with level of significance of 5%. Results: A total 469 (93.8%) WLHA and 465 (93%) HIV-negative women responded. Most of the WLHA (192, 40.8%) were in the age-group 35-44 years while most of the HIV-negative women (226, 48.7%) were in the age-group 25-34 years (P<0.001). Of the 363 (77.4%) WLHA at risk of getting pregnant, 224 (61.7%) were on contraception. Of the 241 (51.8%) HIV-negative women at risk of getting pregnant, 148 (67.2%) were on contraception. While 365 (77.8%) of WLHA used condoms, only 110 (30.1%) used it consistently and while 232 (49.9%) of HIV-negative women used condoms only 39 (16.6%) used them consistently (P=0.008). Though WLHA were 1.61 (CI: 1.24-2.08) times more likely to use any form of contraception than HIV-negative women and 3.53 (CI: 2.65-4.68) times more likely to use condoms than HIV-negative women. HIV status was not a predictor of current contraceptive use (AOR-1.33, CI: 0.68-2.60). The unmet need for contraception among WLHA was 17.1% and 14.8% among negative women (P=0.700). Conclusions: The contraceptive prevalence and condom use was low regardless of HIV status. There is need to intensify on interventions that increase contraceptive use among women with particular attention to WLHA.