Disclosure of HIV Status to Sexual Partners Among People with HIV in Singida Regional Referral Hospital of Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status nondisclosure to sexual partners remains a major challenge in Tanzania because it is still self-avoided among heterosexual partners with HIV. Voluntary HIV disclosure among sexual partners has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are such as helping people with HIV to ask for and receive social support, have safer sex, and assistance to access HIV treatment among sexual partners while disadvantages are such as being blamed, discriminated against, depressed, divorced, and verbally abused after voluntary disclosure. This study assessed voluntary HIV status disclosure to sexual partners, its associated factors, and outcomes among people with HIV (PWH) in the Singida region of Tanzania. Methods: A hospital-based descriptive, cross-sectional study design, 380 persons with HIV were recruited from the Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) at Singida Hospital -- located in Central Tanzania between June and August 2022. A Swahili questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and HIV disclosure information. Results: About 78 % (n=297) of the study participants reported they disclosed their HIV status. Adjusted multivariable logistic revealed that HIV status disclosure to sexual partners was significantly associated with living with a sexual partner (AOR = 3.91, 95%, CI = 1.43-10.72), knowledge of HIV disclosure (AOR = 11.71, 95% CI = 2.88-47.63), known serostatus of the sexual partner (AOR =40.20, 95% CI, = 15.31-105.56) and HIV disclosure related stigma (AOR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.85-0.99). Ninety percent (n=267) of respondents’ sexual partners tested for HIV after disclosure. Conclusion: These findings suggest that there is a significant number of people with HIV who have not disclosed their HIV status to their sexual partners in Singida region of Tanzania, and more interventions should be adopted or designed to scale-up disclosure to sexual partners by addressing the significant factors.