Prevalence and pattern of disclosure of HIV status in HIV-infected children in Ghana.
With the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) HIV-infected children are surviving into adulthood. Despite emerging evidence of the benefits of disclosure, when and how to disclose the diagnosis of HIV to children remain a clinical dilemma. We investigated the prevalence and determinants of HIV disclosure in a cross-sectional study of 71 caregiver-child dyads from the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Care Program at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Accra, Ghana). The children were between 8 and 14 years of age (median age, 10.39 years). The prevalence of disclosure was 21%. In the unadjusted analyses, the age of child, the level of education of child, deceased biologic father, administration of own HIV medications, and longer duration on HIV medication were significantly associated with disclosure. The low prevalence of disclosure underscores the need for a systematic and a staged approach in disclosing HIV status to infected children in resource limited countries.
Kallem
Stacey
S
Department of Pediatrics and Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Renner
Lorna
L
Ghebremichael
Musie
M
Paintsil
Elijah
E
D000293:Adolescent; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015497:HIV-1; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D014342:Truth Disclosure
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents