Knowledge and determinants of women’s knowledge on vertical transmission of HIV and AIDS in South Africa

Abstract

Background HIV/AIDS is still one of the major public health concerns globally. It is one of the major contributory causes of deaths among women in the reproductive age (15–49 years) and has resulted in about 14 million orphaned children globally. Knowledge of Mother-to Child transmission is one of the strategies to fight against HIV. This study, therefore, sought to assess the knowledge and determinants of women’s knowledge on vertical transmission of HIV and AIDS in their reproductive age in South Africa. Methods Data were obtained from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) 2016. Both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential analysis (multilevel mixed-effects complementary log–log regression model) were conducted and the statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The prevalence of knowledge of mother to child transmission of HIV and AIDS during pregnancy, delivery, breastfeeding and at least knowledge of one source are 87.0%, 81.1%, 80.3% and 91.4% respectively. At the individual level, those with secondary [AOR = 1.28, CI = 1.04,1.57] and higher [AOR = 1.55, CI = 1.21,1.99], those who read newspaper less than once a week [AOR = 1.16, CI = [1.05,1.28], at least once a week [AOR = 1.14, CI = 1.04,1.25], and those who listen to the radio less than once a week [AOR = 1.22, CI = 1.03,1.43] had higher odds of knowledge on MTCT of HIV and AIDS. However, those with parity 0 [AOR = 0.73, CI = [0.63,0.85] had lower odds of knowledge of MTCT of HIV and AIDS compared with those with parity 4 or more. At the contextual level, those in the poorest wealth quintile [AOR = 0.82,CI = 0.69,0.97] had lower odds of having knowledge of MTCT of HIV and AIDS. Those in the urban areas [AOR = 1.17, CI = [1.04,1.31], those in Limpopo [AOR = 1.35, CI = [1.12,1.64], Gauteng [AOR = 1.35, CI = [1.12,1.62] and North west[AOR = 1.49, CI = [1.22,1.81] had higher odds of knowledge of mother to child transmission of HIV and AIDS. Conclusion The study has demonstrated that there is relatively high knowledge of mother to child transmission of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. The factors associated with the knowledge are educational level, exposure to mass media, parity, wealth status, place of residence and the region of residence. To further increase the knowledge, it is imperative to adopt various messages and target respondents in different part of SSA through the mass media channels. This should be done taking cognizant of the rural–urban variations and socio-economic status.

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

“…More than 90, 397 (94.1%) of women were heard about vertical transmission of HIV a`nd nearly three-fourth (73%) of them perceived as it may transmitted during labor. The prevalence of mothers knowledge about vertical transmission of HIV was higher than what was reported in South Africa (91.4%) 19 and in the Northern Ethiopia (84.5%). 14 …”

“… 23 Another reason might be due to the inter-regional and rural–urban differentials in access to education and resources, including HIV and AIDS education. 19 , 24 …”

“…Study conducted in South Africa also suggested that mothers those with parity 0 had lower odds of knowledge about vertical transmission of HIV as compared to those higher parity. 19 …”

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

“…Again, women who lived in rural areas were less likely to have sufficient knowledge on MTCT of HIV compared to those in urban centers in Rwanda. Studies conducted in Tanzania [ 8 ], Ethiopia [ 11 , 14 , 16 ], South Africa [ 39 ] reported that women who lived in urban areas have increased knowledge on MTCT. The observed disparities (rural/urban) may be due to differences in access to and quality of HIV related information and other resources between these settings.…”

A risk measurement tool for targeted HIV prevention measures amongst young pregnant and lactating women in South Africa

“…[29] Darteh et al using data from the 2016 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey showed that the prevalence of knowledge of mother to child transmission of HIV during pregnancy, delivery, breastfeeding was 87.0%, 81.1% and 80.3% respectively. [30] Pregnancy intention was measured using a single question rather than a validated measure for unplanned pregnancy. Some known behavioral and clinical factors for predicting HIV positivity, such as sexually transmitted infections, were not included in our models because the primary study did not evaluate them.…”