Prevalence and correlates of HIV testing among adolescents 10–19 years in a post-conflict pastoralist community of Karamoja region, Uganda

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescents are a priority group in HIV prevention and treatment. This study sought to determine the prevalence and correlates of HIV testing services (HTS) among adolescents in the pastoralist post-conflict area of Karamoja sub region, Uganda.MethodsA cross sectional study of 1439 adolescents aged 10–19 years, attending nine public health facilities in five of the seven districts of Karamoja, was conducted between August to September 2016. Adolescents were consecutively selected and interviewed using structured interviewer administered questionnaires. All respondents who had never tested for HIV were offered HTS. The main outcome was ever tested for HIV. Correlates of ever tested were analysed using multivariate logistic regression model.ResultsOf the 1439 adolescents, 904 (62.8%) were females, 1203 (83.6%) were aged 15–19 years, 618 (43.0%) had attained primary education and 885 (61.5%) had ever had sex. Overall 1177 (81.8%) had ever tested and received HIV results. Older age (15–19 years) (adj.OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.85–3.96), secondary level education or higher (adj.OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.33–4.10), and ever had sex (adj.OR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.42–2.90) were associated with higher odds of HIV testing. Of the 262 who had never tested, 169 (64.5%) accepted testing and 2.4% were HIV positive. Reasons for not accepting the test included fear of being tested and not ready for an HIV test because of perceived suffering HIV positive clients go through.ConclusionAwareness of HIV status and uptake of HTS among adolescents in this hard-to-reach post-conflict region was high and close to the global UNAIDS target of 90%. However, the HIV prevalence of 2.4% among the non-testers who accepted to be tested was high and emphasises the need for targeted testing to reach the undiagnosed HIV infected adolescents in this region.

Factors associated with HIV testing among young females; further analysis of the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data

“…This finding was consistent with a study conducted in South Africa which showed that 32.7% of young females (aged 15-24 years) were tested for HIV [29]. However, the proportion of young women tested for HIV in this study was lower than studies conducted in Uganda (92%) [30], Karamoja region (81.8%) [31] and another study conducted in South Africa (60.1%) [16]. The reason for this difference might be the difference in the modalities the Uganda government used to reach the community for HIV counseling and testing (HCT).…”

Correlates of uptake of HIV testing among children and young adolescents in Akwa-Ibom state, Nigeria: a secondary data analysis of the Akwa-Ibom aids indicator survey, 2017

“…Although adolescents are at a greater risk of being infected, the testing rate is still low. In a similar study to assess the prevalence and correlates of HIV testing in Uganda, it was discovered that only 10.7% of adolescents aged 10–14 years had ever been tested for HIV [ 15 ]. Results of this study showed sex and age of the children and adolescents were not significantly associated with uptake of HIV testing.…”

“…Although more children enrolled in school had been tested for HIV, this was not significant in the study. However, Ssebunya et al reported that adolescents with higher educational status were more likely to have been tested for HIV [ 15 ]. The study by Ssebunya et al included adolescents up to 19 years who needed no parental consent before getting tested for HIV [ 15 ].…”

“…However, Ssebunya et al reported that adolescents with higher educational status were more likely to have been tested for HIV [ 15 ]. The study by Ssebunya et al included adolescents up to 19 years who needed no parental consent before getting tested for HIV [ 15 ]. Although less common, transfusion of contaminated blood remains a very important cause of paediatric HIV infection in developing countries [ 36 ].…”

“…Both individual and institutional factors have been found to affect uptake of testing services in sub Saharan Africa [12]. Individual factors were mainly related to parents or guardians of the children and included demographic (e.g., gender, age, marital status) and socioeconomic factors (e.g., income, urban/rural residence, education attainment) [12][13][14][15]. The institutional factors were mainly inadequate human resources, supplies and weak infrastructure [12,16].…”