Antenatal Care Uptake and Observance of Prophylactic Antiretroviral Therapy among HIV-Positive Pregnant Mothers in Nyahururu County Referal Hospital, Kenya

Abstract

BACKGROUND Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection has been a fundamental advancement in the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) response for the past decade. Although Kenya introduced the antiretroviral therapy programme as early as 2011, babies are still born with HIV. This study aimed at assessing the uptake of Antenatal Care Services (ACS) and the level of observance of prophylactic antiretroviral therapy among HIV positive pregnant mothers attending antenatal clinics in Nyahururu Referral County hospital, Laikipia County, Kenya. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted an institutional-based prospective cohort study in a hospital. Our participants were 180 pregnant HIV-positive women enrolled through systematic random sampling from the PMTCT department. We followed and monitored them prospectively for nine months. In addition, were commenced on prophylactic antiretroviral therapy. We used descriptive statistical methods, correlations, bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analyses to make sense of the collected data. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS There was a significant response rate of 91%. Social support from partners accounted for 69.3%. In addition, 69.3% of the mothers had visited antenatal care more than four times. The majority of participants had undetectable viral load 97.5% and 89.0% had a cluster of differentiation above 250/ml). CONCLUSIONS Adequate follow-up, counselling, monitoring, social support and adherence to antiretroviral therapy can increase the chances of the HIV infected mothers delivering HIV-negative babies. It is also a prediction that majority of the infants will turn out HIV negative. Keywords: Uptake, Antenatal Care, Adherence, Prophylactic, Anti-Retroviral, HIV, Pregnant Mothers. [Afr. J. Health Sci. 2022 35(2): 241-250]