Utilization and Factors Associated with Uptake of Prevention of Mother- To - Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV Services among Antenatal Clinic Attendees at a Tertiary Health Facility in Akure, Ondo State

Background: Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programmes provide antiretroviral treatment to HIV-positive pregnant women to reduce the likelihood of their infants acquiring the HIV. However despite concerted efforts to scale-up PMTCT services in Nigeria, the coverage and uptake of the service by pregnant women remain low.

Aim/Objective: This study was carried out to assess the utilization and factors associated with the uptake of PMTCT Services among pregnant women at a tertiary health facility in Akure, Ondo State.

Methodology: This research was an institutional based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over a period of one month (May 2018). The study population included pregnant women accessing antenatal care at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Akure, Ondo State. Data was collected using interviewer administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Windows 20.The main outcome measured was the utilization of PMTCT services. Factors associated with its utilization was assessed using binary logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.

Results: A total of 400 pregnant women were interviewed with 100% response rate. The mean age of the women was 32years ± 4.8.The majority of them with their spouses were educated up to the tertiary level. Their mean gestational age was 28weeks±2.2 standard deviation. Among the respondents, 252 (63.2%) had been tested for HIV in the index pregnancy while 148 (36.8%) were not yet tested, those not tested identified lack of counsellors as their main reason. The average time spent before the patients were seen at the clinic was reported to be too long in 287 (71.7%), so 368 (92.5%) of the women were not satisfied with the service. Factors found to be positively associated with PMTCT utilization were the educational level of the women and their partners which could be in favour of their utilizing PMTCT services and inadequate counsellors which may not be in favour of utilization of the service.

Conclusion: All the respondents did not utilize the PMTCT services in the index pregnancy and the main reason being inadequate number of counsellors. There is the need to improve the quality of PMTCT services in the study setting.