Fertility desire of HIV-positive men and women in public health hospitals.

Objective: Despite the increased emphasis on antiretroviral therapy and other healthcare services for HIV-infected individuals, issues of fertility desire have received relatively little attention. In particular, little is known about actual fertility desire and determinants of fertility desires among HIV-infected women and men receiving antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among HIV-positive individuals in public health hospitals of Addis Ababa City from 1 October to 30 November 2021. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect the data with a consecutive sampling technique. EpiData 4.6.2 and SPSS 25 were used for data entry and analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors associated with fertility desire. An adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was computed for data interpretation. A value of ⩽0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Result: Among 400 participants, 55% (95% confidence interval = 50%, 60%) have future fertility desire. Factors like age less than 35 years (adjusted odds ratio = 24.03, 95% confidence interval = 9.99, 57.83), a secondary education level (adjusted odds ratio = 2.78, 95% confidence interval = 1.21, 6.40), being married (adjusted odds ratio = 2.89, 95% confidence interval = 1.39, 5.99), being employed (adjusted odds ratio = 3.12, 95% confidence interval = 1.56, 6.24), being diagnosed with HIV in the past 1 year (adjusted odds ratio = 4.02, 95% confidence interval 2.07, 7.80) or past 2-4 years (adjusted odds ratio = 9.80, 95% confidence interval = 3.89, 26.02) have a significant association with future fertility desire. Respondents using contraceptives were 90.9% less likely to have future fertility desire (adjusted odds ratio = 0.09, 95% confidence interval = 0.05, 0.18).

Conclusion: The magnitude of future fertility desire was founded high. Further research on this topic should include qualitative studies to provide a deeper understanding of people living with HIV fertility desires.