Prevalence of serostatus disclosure to sexual partners among HIV infected women in Kisii District, Western Kenya

Objective: To establish the prevalence and factors that determine serostatus disclosure to sexual partners among HIV infected women.Design: Hospital-based cross-sectional study.Setting: Patient’s Support Centre (PSC) and Prevention of Mother-To-Child (PMTCT) clinic in Kisii District Hospital, Western Kenya.Subjects: Three hundred and four seropositive women attending PSC and PMTCT clinics.Results: The 304 respondents interviewed aged between 18-62 years (mean = 32.4 + 7.5). A large majority (67.8%) had disclosed their serostatus to their sexual partners. Of the 32.2% respondents who had not disclosed a high proportion (68.8%) reported they had no intention of ever disclosing to the partners. The majority (46.9%) of these respondents feared their partners may either abandon them or accuse them of infidelity(20.8%). However, this was seldom realised as reported by most respondents who had disclosed. The length of time the respondents had lived with the sexual partner and knowledge in the benefits of disclosure emerged as significant factors to disclosure (OR= 6.20; 95% CI 2.26-17.3; OR=4.88; 95% CI 2.08-11.44) respectively.Conclusion: Of the respondents who had not disclosed, a substantial proportion reported no intention of disclosing to the partners highlighting various fears. This was found to be premised on negative depiction as many respondents who had disclosed reported they rarely experienced reprisal from their sexual partners