Factors associated with Assisted Partner Notification Services in Seme and Kisumu west sub counties, Kenya.

Abstract

Background: Assisted partner notification service (aPNS) is a public health strategy which entails a health worker interviewing persons identified with an STI (index cases) about their sexual partner(s) and/or contacts and then providing the index case with some level of assistance notifying their partner(s) and assuring their testing. Assisted partner notification services was implemented, as a public health intervention to identify individuals' new HIV infections and facilitate linkage to care. Methods: Participants aged 18 years and above were selected and enrolled in the study through simple random sampling. Participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study. Logistic regression (bivariate and multivariate) analysis was performed on data to determine factors associated with participation in aPNS. Backward stepwise elimination was used to select variables to be included in the multivariate level to estimate the odds ratios (OR). Results: We enrolled 423 participants of which 62.5 % were aged 18-25 and women (n=228, 54.5%) and men (n=190, 45.5%). Overall participation in aPNS was 69.1%. The predictors of participation in aPNS were occupation and residence. The odds of participating in aPNS was higher for those who practiced peasantry (aOR=2.04; 95% CI, 1.08-3.85, p=0.029). However, those in the urban were less likely to participate in aPNS compared to those in the rural setting notification (aOR=0.57; 95% CI, 0.33-0.98, p=0.042) and those employed were less likely to participate in aPNS compared to those unemployed (aOR=0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.95, p=0.032). Conclusion: There is need to target interventions targeting assisted partner notification in the urban settings and among those in the workforce.