Relationship between contraceptive use and HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa

background: Recent evidence points to a significant increase in the number of sexual partners in many African countries. Additionally, less than half of the world’s HIV positive population knows their HIV status, inadvertently putting more individuals at risk of acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study evaluated the relationship between contraceptive use and the uptake of HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa.

methods: Data was derived from the Demographic and Health Survey by combining information from 4 unique African countries: Uganda, Nigeria, Congo and Mozambique. These countries were chosen due to their geographical locations across the continent. The relationship between each contraceptive method and uptake of HIV testing was adjusted by participants’ characteristics (i.e., age, marital status, education, urban/rural residence and number of children in the household) using logistic regression.

results: After adjustment, individuals who participated in HIV testing had an increase in the odds of using the following contraceptive methods: pill (AOR=2.05; 95%CI: 1.85, 2.28), diaphragm (AOR= 2.19; 1.97, 2.44), hysterectomy (AOR= 1.19; 1.11, 1.27), male sterilization (AOR= 1.45; 1.01, 2.07), and abstinence (AOR= 2.08; 1.28, 3.34).  A significant reduction in uptake of HIV testing was associated with withdrawal (AOR= 0.57; 0.53, 0.62) and Norplant (AOR= 0.43; 0.35, 0.51). No association was seen with use of male condoms during previous intercourse or intrauterine devices.

conclusion: Women could benefit from an integrated approach to family planning and HIV counseling and testing. This is especially important in women who use withdrawal and Norplant as their contraceptive methods.