Contraceptive use and associated factors among sexually active reproductive age HIV positive women attending ART clinic at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Background: Contraception helps prevent unplanned pregnancies and mother to child Human Immune Virus (HIV) transmission among human immune virus positive women. Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in increasing contraceptive use rate but there is still a disparity of contraceptive use within the country. Although there were some studies about contraceptive use in Ethiopia, evidences about contraceptive use among sexually active HIV positive women was limited. Understanding the extent of and barriers in Ethiopia is important for learning how to best improve level of contraceptive use. Therefore, this study aimed to assess contraceptives use and associated factors among HIV positive sexually active women at anti-retroviral therapy clinic at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital ART clinic in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Method: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June 01-30, 2018 among (n = 308) randomly selected HIV positive women at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital. Data were collected using a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Survey logistic regression analysis was employed to identify determinants of contraceptive use. Statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05.

Results: Out of three hundred eight participants, 118 (38.3%) reported contraceptive use at the time of the study. Injectable is the most preferred (43.5%) contraceptive method. Participants with age 15-34 years (AOR = 3.09, 95%CI: 1.59-5.99), disclosed their status to sex partner, (AOR = 2.7, 95%CI: 1.14-6.66), had history of contraception use; (AOR = 3.36, 95%CI: 1.68-6.74), were sexually active (AOR = 5.45, 95%CI: 2.72-10.91) had higher odds of contraceptive use. However, participants who had drinking habit (AOR = 4.35, 95%CI: 1.82-10.38) had lower odds of contraceptive use.

Conclusion: A significant proportion of HIV positive women had low level of contraceptive use that was lower than the national recommended level. Participants with younger age (15-34years), who disclosed HIV status to sex partner, had history of contraceptive use, and who were sexually active six months prior to the study were more likely to use contraception. However, participants who had drinking habit were less likely to use contraception. These results suggest that multi-sectorial and multi-disciplinary approaches are needed to increase contraceptive use in the HIV positive women.