The Impact of Engagement with Healthcare Services on Awareness Among Women in Zimbabwe, 2020 Open Access
Busby, Sarah (Spring 2024)
Abstract
Introduction: Awareness of HIV status has been shown to be a difficult target for many countries to reach, even among the countries that excel in meeting other HIV-related outcomes. In Zimbabwe, women tend to be more aware of their HIV status compared to men. It is not known to what degree healthcare service engagement influences awareness of status, especially among women living in Sub-Saharan Africa. This thesis explores the topic of engagement of healthcare services among women aged 15 and older living in Zimbabwe and how that impacts their awareness of HIV status.
Methods: Eligible adults and children were interviewed and completed a blood test that measured presence of HIV and antiretroviral medications. Participants were asked if they were aware of their HIV status and whether they had utilized several types of healthcare services. This analysis was restricted to women who were HIV positive. Unweighted analysis was performed.
Results: Out of 2,052 women who tested positive for HIV, 1,840 (89.7%) were aware of their HIV-positive status. Younger age was associated with unawareness of HIV status. Women who had not visited a tuberculosis clinic in the past 12 months [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 02. – 0.7] or had never been screened for cervical cancer (aOR: 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 – 0.9) were less likely to be aware of their HIV status.
Discussion: Engagement with healthcare services is associated with women being more aware of their HIV status. More routine HIV testing services should be offered at a variety of healthcare services to improve awareness among women. Future rounds of the ZIMPHIA survey may benefit from assessing regularity of usage of other types of healthcare services.
Table of Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Methods………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Results……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 6
Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
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