Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus infection still contributes significantly to adolescent mortality in sub-Saharan Africa but many infected children are surviving into adolescence and adulthood. Infected adolescents need to know their status for their proper selfcare and prevention of transmission. Studies on effects of disclosure from adolescents’ perspectives are few. This study sought for the self-reported impact on disclosed adolescents.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study of 52 adolescents (10-19 years) who knew their HIV infection status for over 6 months. A pretested questionnaire was used and it lasted between July 2019 and February 2020. The data obtained was analysed using statistical package for social sciences version 25.
Fifty-eight of 140 adolescents aged 10-19years knew their HIV diagnosis (disclosure rate = 41.4%) and 52 assented with caregivers’ consent to participate. Mean age of participants was 15.1 ± 2.2 years with 21males and 31 female giving male: female ration of 1:1.4. Age-related significant findings were third party disclosure (P = 0.002), membership of support group and attending clinics unaccompanied (P = 0.009 and 0.007 respectively). Gender-based responses were 3rd party disclosure and attending clinic unaccompanied (P = 0.01 and 0.02 respectively). Adherence improved following disclosure and majority preferred being disclosed to and were hopeful in their outlook to life, but these were not significant in relations to their ages or gender.
In conclusion, older disclosed adolescents are able to access care for themselves and benefit from peer psychosocial support.

Keywords:Adolescent; Disclosure; HIV Diagnosis; Self-Report; Impact

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Citation

Citation: Dixon-Umo OT., et al. “Age and Gender Based Self-Reported Impact of Disclosure of HIV/AIDS Diagnosis from Adolescents Receiving Care at University Teaching Hospital, Uyo, South-South Nigeria”. Acta Scientific Paediatrics 3.7 (2020): 04-12.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Dixon-Umo OT., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.