Knowledge about mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, its prevention and associated factors among reproductive-age women in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 33 countries recent Demographic and Health Surveys

Abstract

Background In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) 90 percent of babies acquired HIV/AIDS from infected mothers. Maternal knowledge about mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV/AIDS and its prevention is a cornerstone for elimination of MTCT of HIV/AIDS. Despite this, there is limited evidence about knowledge about MTCT of HIV/AIDS and its prevention and associated factors in SSA. Therefore, this study aimed to assess knowledge of MTCT of HIV/AIDS, its prevention (PMTCT) and, associated factors among reproductive-age women in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective To assess Knowledge about mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS and its prevention and associated factors among reproductive-age women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Methods The recent SSA countries’ Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which were conducted from 2008/09 to 2018/19, was our data source. We appended 33 countries’ DHS data for our analysis. For our study, a total weighted sample of 350,888 reproductive-age women was used. Due to the hierarchical nature of the DHS data, we conducted a multilevel analysis. Finally, the adjusted odds ratio with its 95% confidence interval was reported, and variables with p-value≤0.05 were considered as significant predictors of knowledge of MTCT of HIV/AIDS and its prevention. Results In this study, 56.21% (95% CI: 56.05–56.38) of respondents had correct knowledge about MTCT of HIV/AIDS and its prevention among reproductive-age women in SSA. In the multilevel logistic regression analysis: being in the older age group, better education level, being from a rich household, having mass media exposure, having parity of one and above were associated with higher odds of knowledge about MTCT of HIV/AIDS and its prevention. However, being perceiving distance from the health facility as a big problem was associated with lower odds of knowledge about MTCT of HIV/AIDS and its prevention. Conclusion Knowledge about MTCT of HIV/AIDS and its prevention among reproductive-age women in SSA was low. Therefore, it is better to consider the high-risk groups during the intervention to increase awareness about this essential public health issue and to tackle its devastating outcome.

Determinants of comprehensive knowledge on mother-to-child transmission of HIV and its prevention among childbearing women in Rwanda: insights from the 2020 Rwandan Demographic and Health Survey

“…The main outcome variable in this study is reproductive women’s comprehensive knowledge on MTCT and EMTCT of HIV in Rwanda. It is a composite score of five [ 5 ] different questions that were similar to those in previous studies [ 2 , 4 , 8 , 10 , 14 ]. The questions included (i) “Now I would like to talk about something else, have you ever heard of HIV/AIDS?”, (ii) “Can HIV be transmitted from mother to her baby during pregnancy?”, (iii) “Can HIV be transmitted from the mother to her baby during delivery?”, (iv) “Can HIV be transmitted from the mother to her baby during breastfeeding?”, (v) “Are there any special drug or medicines that a doctor or a nurse can give to a woman infected with HIV to reduce the risk of transmission to the baby?”.…”

“…The Social Cognitive Theory [ 18 ] and the Information Motivation Behavioral Skills Theory (IMB) [ 19 ] and previous literature [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 10 , 11 ] provided the theoretical foundation and guided selection of the independent predictors analyzed in this study respectively. The independent predictors have been categorized into Individual level factors such as Respondents age (15–19, 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, 40–44, 45–49), Marital status (recoded into Never in union/Not Married, Married/Living with partner, Divorced/Separated/Widowed), Highest educational level (No education, Primary, Secondary, Higher), Religion (Catholics, Protestants, Adventists, Muslim, Traditional & Others), Frequency of reading newspaper/magazine (Not at all, Less than once a week, At least once a week), Frequency of listening to radio (Not at all, Less than once a week, At least once a week), Frequency of watching Television (Not at all, Less than once a week, At least once a week), Wealth Index Combined (Poorest, Poorer, Middle, Richer, Richest), Currently pregnant (No or Unsure, Yes), Visited health facility last 12 months (No, Yes), Covered by Health Insurance (No, Yes), Respondent currently working/Employment status (Employed, Unemployed).…”

“…In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 180,000 new HIV infections occurred in 2017 among children aged 0–14 years predominantly during breastfeeding. Again, it’s been reported that risk of HIV transmission between mother and the child ranges 15-45% (that is, 5–10% during pregnancy, 10–20% during labor and childbirth and 10–20% through mixed infant feeding) in the absence of any intervention to eliminate MTCT, [ 10 , 11 ]. Infants and young children infected with HIV have a substantial mortality and morbidity risks which is increased especially during pregnancy and labor with nearly half of these children dying before their second birthday without any treatment and intervention [ 3 ].…”

Knowledge about vertical transmission of HIV and associated factors among women living with HIV or AIDS attending antiretroviral therapy clinic, Western Ethiopia

“…This finding is supported by study in the Sub-Saharan, North and Northeast Ethiopia. 14 – 16 , 20 Women who live in urban settings have good health-seeking behavior and might have better access to maternal health care services, such as antenatal care (ANC). 21 , 22 The study done in Northeast Ethiopia showed that ANC service utilization has positive significant association with the knowledge of the vertical transmission of HIV.…”

Pregnant Women’s Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Towards the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS in Dil Chora Referral Hospital, Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…23 Regardless of the wide availability of PMTCT services, the mother’s knowledge of PMTCT is not satisfactory. 20 , 24 Poor knowledge and practice and negative attitude of pregnant women about MTCT and PMTCT are the main challenges in Ethiopia for the full implementation of PMTCT service. 25 …”