Influence of male partners on HIV disclosure among South African women in a cluster randomized PMTCT intervention

Abstract

Disclosure of HIV serostatus is beneficial for women, their partners, and their infants as it enables women to actively participate in preventative care.Therefore, it is important that interventions addressing HIV prevention include elements that foster disclosure of HIV to partners. This study conducted in South Africa utilizes the Protect Your Family (PYF) behavioral intervention and compares Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) among women participating in the program versus those in a control program. Within both groups, male partners were either present or not present for the intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine differential disclosure over time for individuals in the different conditions and partner involvement. A forth logistic regression revealed an interaction in the experimental condition with male partners participating (b=2.84, SE=1.56, p=.012), in which female participants were less likely to disclose their HIV status over time. Findings from this study illustrate that additional efforts are needed to empower women to disclose their HIV status.