Abstract
Routine HIV testing of all pregnant women in Oman has been introduced without prior knowledge of women's attitudes towards testing or their behaviour in the event of a positive test. This study recruited 1000 Omani pregnant women from antenatal clinics to explore their knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes towards HIV testing and intended behaviours in the event of a positive test. Mother-to-child transmission was recognized by 86.6% of the women but only 21.0% knew that it was preventable and a few acknowledged the important role of antiviral drugs. Half of the women (51.9%) reported having been tested for HIV and 75.8% agreed about routine HIV testing for all pregnant women. A higher level of knowledge was significantly associated with a favourable intended behaviour related to voluntary testing, disclosure and seeking professional assistance in the event of a positive HIV test. The results are discussed in relation to opt-in and opt-out approaches to voluntary testing during pregnancy.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 614-22 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Eastern Mediterranean health journal = La revue de sante de la Mediterranee orientale = al-Majallah al-sihhiyah li-sharq al-mutawassit |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 10 |
Publication status | Published - Oct 20 2014 |
Keywords
- AIDS Serodiagnosis/standards
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Female
- HIV Infections/diagnosis
- Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
- Humans
- Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/prevention & control
- Interviews as Topic
- Middle Aged
- Oman
- Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology
- Pregnancy
- Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/drug therapy
- Pregnant Women/psychology
- Prenatal Care/methods
- Young Adult