Human immunodeficiency virus infection disclosure status to infected school aged children and associated factors in bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia: cross sectional study

Abstract Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive status disclosure is an essential component of Pediatric care and long term disease management. Children have a right to know their HIV diagnosis result. However, Pediatric HIV disclosure is complex and varies in different communities. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of HIV-positive status disclosure to infected children and associated factors among caregivers of infected children. Methodology A facility based mixed methods research design study was conducted in Bale Zone of South East Ethiopia. Randomly selected caregivers of HIV-positive children were interviewed using structured questionnaires for quantitative study and 17 in-depth interviews of health care workers and caregivers were conducted for qualitative data. Content analysis was done for qualitative data and logistic regression analysis was used to see the association between different variables and HIV-positive disclosure status. Odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to determine the presence and strength of the associated factors. Results A total of 200 caregivers of school aged (6–14 years) children participated in the study. Only 57 (28.5%) of the care givers disclosed HIV-positive status to the child for whom they were caring. The main reason for disclosure delay was due to fear of negative consequences, perception on maturity of the child, and fear of social rejection and stigma. Having social support [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: (1.1–6.4)], caring for a child between 10 and 14 years with HIV [AOR = 6.5, 95% CI: (2.1–20.2)], a child diagnosed with HIV at age > 5 years [AOR = 2.8, 95% CI: (1.1–7.1)], and children on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with follow-up for > 5 years [AOR = 4.7, 95% CI: (1.8–11.2)] had significant association with HIV- positive status disclosure to infected children. Conclusion The frequency of HIV infection disclosure to infected children was very low in our cohort. Having social support, having an older child with HIV, a long period of ART follow-up and HIV diagnosis after age of five years were positively associated with HIV-positive status disclosure to infected children. Giving age appropriate counselling to children, social support to the caregivers and working on related factors are very important to improve the observed low disclosure status