Disclosure of HIV status by caregivers of HIV infected children at the University Teaching Hospital pediatric ART clinic.

Abstract

The study sought to determine caregivers' knowledge of HIV infection, knowledge of HIV status disclosure, their attitude towards HIV status disclosure and level of HIV status disclosure among caregivers of HIV infected children attending ART clinic at the University Teaching Hospital. A descriptive cross sectional study design was used and an interview schedule was used to collect data from 50 caregivers. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. Findings revealed that all, 50(100%) respondents were knowledgeable about HIV infection. Majority of the respondents 38 (76%) were knowledgeable about HIV status disclosure. All the 50 (100%) respondents had positive attitude towards HIV status disclosure. Slightly over half of the respondents 27 (54%) had disclosed HIV status to their infected children, out of which 11 (22%) respondents only disclosed HIV status partially. However, the knowledge level and attitude of the respondents were not related to HIV status disclosure as disclosure was only 54%.