Knowledge and attitude towards mother to child transmission of HIV and it's prevention among post natal mothers in Tikur Anbessa and Zewditu Memorial Hospitals, Addis Ababa

Abstract

Background: HIV/AIDS is currently a major public health problem in Ethiopia and mother to child transmission (MTCT) is responsible for 90% of childhood HIV infections. The transmission of HIV from infected mothers to babies could occur during antenatal period, as well as during delivery and breastfeeding (postnatal period). Since breastfeeding is essential for child survival, it is also necessary to assess mothers' knowledge and attitude towards HIV transmission and its prevention during breastfeeding. Objectives: This study attempts to assess mothers' knowledge of MTCT of HIV including breastfeeding, in two government hospitals in Addis Ababa. It also describes mothers' attitudes towards voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services. Methods: A cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted to assess knowledge and attitude towards MTCT and its' preventive methods on postnatal mothers who delivered at Tikur Anbessa and Zewditu Memorial Hospitals, Addis Ababa, from January to March 2004. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: A total of 384 mothers were interviewed 78.4% of whom were from Addis Ababa. 87.0% were aged between 16-30 years. Of these mothers 54.9% were primipara, 89.9% were married, and 84.6% were Christians. Amhara (44.5%), Oromo (26.3%), Gurage (17.2%), and Tigre (7.0%) were the major ethnic groups in the study population. All the 384 respondents had heard about HIV/AIDS of which, 82.3 % mentioned the major routes of transmission and 89.8% knew that that HIV could be transmitted from an infected mother to her baby. Most of the respondents (76.8%) knew that MTCT of HIV is preventable, 64.6% knew the protective effect of prophylactic anti-retroviral drugs, 37.1% knew that abstinence from breastfeeding can prevent MTCT, 10.4% knew elective caesarean section (C/S) as a preventive method and 6.9% stated that protection of the mother from HIV is the same as protecting her baby. Those mothers who were from Addis Ababa, and whose educational level was secondary and above were found to be more knowledgeable about MTCT and PMTCT. Three hundred seventeen (82.6%) of the mothers knew what VCT meant and 76.8% of them have positive attitudes to wards VCT. 69.3% of the mother indicated that mothers should be tested before breastfeeding and 67.4% agreed to have VCT before breastfeeding their new babies. 60.2% planned to have VCT before their next pregnancy. Conclusion: This study showed that most mothers in this study knew that HIV could be transmitted from mother to child and that it can be prevented. A majority are of the opinion that VCT can be a preventive strategy and most of them have the intention to have counseling and testing before the next pregnancy. Hence well-organized VCT centers and PMTCT programs should be established to halt the epidemic from affecting the next generation. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2005;19(3):211-218]

Knowledge on Mother to Child Transmission and Utilization of Services Designed to Prevent Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS among Pregnant Women in Hossana Town, Southern Ethiopia

“…The proportion of pregnant women who know mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS was found to be 88.7%.Knowledge of mother to child transmission is nearly similar to the finding of Ashanti region, Ghana [10] and Addis Ababa TikurAnbessa and Zewuditu memorial hospitals, Ethiopia [11] which was 87.7% and 89.9% respectively. This finding is higher than that of Southwestern Nigeria [12] and Arbaminch, Ethiopia [13] which is 81.9% and 80% respectively.…”

“…Knowledge on periods of HIV transmission is much lower than that of Addis Ababa in which 99.4% knew at least one period of transmission and 55.4% mentioned all the three periods [11]. Similarly, knowledge of periods of HIV transmission in this study is also much lower than that of Arbaminch which accounts 55% and thought that there is a 100% risk of transmission of every conception.…”

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards PMTCT of HIV among Women Attending Ambo Hospital ANC Clinic, West Ethiopia

“…This may be because of the global or universal nature of the problem .This finding was greatest than those study finding in above mentioned hospital (Ethiopia) in both knowledge of MTCT and PMTCT of HIV as All the respondents were knowledgeable. This may be because of the time difference between this and those studies, as awareness increases with a time increase [18,24]. This study showed that 105 (44.4%) of the respondents knew ART drugs given for HIV-positive pregnant mothers could reduce the risk of HIV transmission, and this result is similar with the study done in Hawassa University referral Hospital Within which about half (48.3%) of the respondents knew that antiretroviral drugs given for seropositive pregnant mothers could reduce the risk of transmission [18].…”

“…Pre-tested structured questionnaire was prepared by reviewing previously done studies on the topic of interest [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The data were collected using structured interviewer administered questionnaire prepared to address knowledge, attitude, practice associated with PMTCT services.…”

Knowledge and practice of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among traditional birth attendants in Lagos State, Nigeria

“…[5,12] Awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS was found to be better than awareness and knowledge of PMTCT specifically. This was also discovered in studies carried out among TBAs and women (antenatal and postnatal patients) attending health facilities in Nigeria and other African nations [13][14][15][16][17][18].…”