Disclosure status of children attending HIV care and treatment clinics in Burundi, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo

ABSTRACT

Data were obtained from 290 HIV-positive children aged 5–18 years in Burundi, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We compared characteristics of those who knew their HIV serostatus (disclosed) with those that did not (undisclosed) using chi-square tests at enrollment and 6-month follow-up. We used logistic regression to determine if disclosure status was associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. Of 144 disclosed children, the median age of disclosure was 10 years. Disclosed and undisclosed children were similar in demographic and clinical characteristics: roughly half were girls, WHO clinical stage III or IV (55% vs 56%), and the majority were receiving ART (69% vs 60%). Differences were observed in whether disclosed and undisclosed children were on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis (82% vs 51%, p < .001) and attended a support group (41% vs 14%, p < .001). We did not observe an association between disclosure and ART adherence.

KEYWORDS:

• adherence
• pediatric HIV disclosure
• sub-Saharan Africa