HIV knowledge, stigma, and illness beliefs among pediatric caregivers in Ghana who have not disclosed their child's HIV status

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of caregivers enrolled from January 2013 to July 2013.

	Komfo-Anokye (disclosure intervention)	Korle-Bu (usual care)		Total
	N = 131(%)	N = 167(%)	P value	N = 298(%)
Age^e	43.2 ± 10.8	42.1 ± 10.0	0.34^a	42.6 ± 10.4
Marital status^c			0.09^b
Single	17 (13.0)	22 (13.2)		39 (13.1)
Married	63 (48.1)	98 (58.7)		161 (54.0)
Divorce/separated	17 (13.0)	23 (13.8)		40 (13.4)
Widowed	34 (26.0)	24 (14.4)		58 (19.5)
Gender			0.38^b
Male	22 (16.8)	36 (21.6)		58 (19.5)
Female	109 (83.2)	131 (78.4)		240 (80.5)
HIV status			0.9^b
No or not sure	53 (40.8)	65 (39.6)		118 (40.1)
Yes	77 (59.2)	99 (60.4)		176 (59.9)
Education			<0.0001^b
No school	17 (13.0)	30 (18.0)		47 (15.8)
Elementary education	96 (73.3)	71 (42.5)		167 (56.0)
Secondary and post-secondary education	18 (13.7)	66 (39.5)		84 (28.2)
Employment status			0.62^b
Unemployed	18 (13.8)	22 (13.3)		40 (13.5)
Self-employed	103 (79.2)	127 (76.5)		230 (77.7)
Private or government sector employment	9 (6.9)	17 (10.2)		26 (8.8)
Monthly household income (GHS)^d			<0.0001^b
>50 per month	26 (20.2)	2 (1.2)		28 (9.6)
50–300 per month	84 (65.1)	99 (60.7)		183 (62.7)
>300 per month	19 (14.7)	62 (38.0)		81 (27.7)
Distance from clinic/hospital			0.0001^b
0–20 kilometers	98 (75.4)	90 (53.9)		188 (63.3)
More than 20 kilometers	32 (24.6)	77 (46.1)		109 (36.7)
Receiving own care at			0.56^b
Clinic/hospital	126 (96.9)	165 (98.8)		291 (98.0)
Clinic/hospital and Traditional/homeopathic healer	2 (1.5)	1 (0.6)		3 (1.0)
Other	2 (1.5)	1 (0.6)		3 (1.0)

^ap value was based on two sample t test.

^bp value was based on Fisher’s Exact test for count.

^cFrequency and Column Percentage for categorical variables.

^dGhana Cedis (GHS): 1 GHS = 0.31 USD.

^eMean ± Standard deviation for continuous variable.

Table 2. Caregiver responses on Social Provision, HIV knowledge, Illness Perception and HIV stigma questionnaires.

	KATH^a	KBTH^b		Total
Questionnaire	N = 131	N = 167	P value^c	N = 298
SPS
Attachment (4–16)^e	11.8 ± 1.8^d	12.0 ± 2.4		11.9 ± 2.1
Social integration (4–16)	11.8 ± 1.2	12.3 ± 2.5		12.1 ± 2.1
Reassurance of worth (4–16)	11.6 ± 1.3	11.9 ± 2.6		11.8 ± 2.1
Reliable alliance (4–16)	11.4 ± 1.9	10.3 ± 3.6		10.8 ± 3.1
Guidance (4–16)	11.7 ± 1.7	12.2 ± 3.1		12.0 ± 2.5
Opportunity for nurturance (4–16)	12.6 ± 1.9	13.2 ± 2.5		12.9 ± 2.3
Overall SPS score (24–96)	70.9 ± 6.4	71.8 ± 10.4	0.34	71.4 ± 8.9
Illness perceptions (Brief IPQ)
Consequences (0–10)	7.3 ± 3.1	7.2 ± 3.5		7.3 ± 3.3
Time line (0–10)	6.8 ± 2.7	5.7 ± 3.7		6.2 ± 3.4
Personal control (0–10)	7.2 ± 2.8	6.9 ± 3.6		7.1 ± 3.3
Treatment control (0–10)	9.4 ± 1.7	8.5 ± 2.7		8.9 ± 2.4
Identity (0–10)	1.7 ± 2.3	1.9 ± 2.5		1.8 ± 2.4
Illness concern (0–10)	7.5 ± 3.2	8.3 ± 3.0		7.9 ± 3.1
Coherence (0–10)	7.7 ± 2.4	7.2 ± 3.5		7.4 ± 3.1
Emotional (0–10)	5.4 ± 3.4	6.3 ± 3.9		5.9 ± 3.7
IPQ score (0–80)	34.1 ± 10.9	36.4 ± 11.7	0.09	35.4 ± 11.4
HIV stigma score
Overall HIV stigma score (18–54)	41.2 ± 4.7	44.7 ± 6.1	<0.0001	43.2 ± 5.8
HIV-KQ-18
Overall HIV-KQ-18 Score (0–18)	14.4 ± 2.1	13.6 ± 2.3	<0.01	13.9 ± 2.3

^aKATH: Komfo-Anokye (disclosure intervention).

^bKBTH: Korle-Bu (usual care).

^cp value was based on two sample t-test

^dMean, standard deviation.

^ePossible range for each score.

Table 3. Performance on HIV-KQ-18 Questionnaire by caregivers.

Item	Content of HIV-KQ-18 Questionnaire	Correct response	Percent correct response
1	Coughing and sneezing DO NOT spread HIV.	T	82
2	A person can get HIV by sharing a glass of water with someone who has HIV.	F	94
3	Pulling out the penis before a man climaxes/cums keeps a woman from getting HIV during sex.	F	62
4	A woman can get HIV if she has anal sex with a man.	T	89
5	Showering, or washing one’s genitals/private parts, after sex keeps a person from getting HIV.	F	93
6	All pregnant women infected with HIV will have babies born with AIDS.	F	81
7	People who have been infected with HIV quickly show serious signs of being infected.	F	76
8	There is a vaccine that can stop adults from getting HIV.	F	80
9	People are likely to get HIV by deep kissing, putting their tongue in their partner’s mouth, if their partner has HIV.	F	51
10	A woman cannot get HIV if she has sex during her period.	F	86
11	There is a female condom that can help decrease a woman’s chance of getting HIV.	T	91
12	A natural skin condom works better against HIV than does a latex condom.	F	45
13	A person will NOT get HIV if she or he is taking antibiotics.	F	80
14	Having sex with more than one partner can increase a person’s chance of being infected with HIV.	T	94
15	Taking a test for HIV one week after having sex will tell a person if she or he has HIV.	F	69
16	A person can get HIV by bathing or swimming in a pool/river with a person who has HIV.	F	93
17	A person can get HIV from oral sex.	T	78
18	Using Vaseline or baby oil with condoms lowers the chance of getting HIV.	F	51

T, True; F, false.

Table 4. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression analysis for caregivers scores on HIV-KQ.

	Unadjusted			Adjusted
Characteristics	Estimates	Standard error	P value	Estimates	Standard error	P value
Age	−0.02	0.01	0.07	0.01	0.01	0.56
Gender
Female	−0.49	0.33	0.13	–0.46	0.33	0.16
Male (reference group)
HIV status
Yes	0.90	0.26	0.0006	0.91	0.28	0.0014
No (reference group)
Education			<0.0001^a			<0.0001^a
Secondary and post-secondary education	1.92	0.40	<0.0001	1.80	0.42	<0.0001
Elementary education	1.60	0.36	<0.0001	1.53	0.36	<0.0001
No school (reference group)
Monthly household income (GHS)^b			0.11^a			0.28^a
Greater than 300 per month	0.53	0.49	0.28	0.18	0.48	0.72
50–300 per month	−0.09	0.46	0.84	−0.27	0.44	0.54
Less than 50 per month (reference group)
Distance from clinic/hospital
More than 20 kilometers	−0.20	0.27	0.46	−0.25	0.26	0.33
0–20 kilometers (reference group)

^aType 3 overall p value for categorical variable with more than 2 levels.

^bGhana Cedis (GHS): 1 GHS = 0.31 USD.

Table 5. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression analysis for caregivers scores on HIV stigma questionnaire.

	Unadjusted			Adjusted
Characteristics	Estimates	Standard error	P value	Estimates	Standard error	P value
Age	−0.05	0.03	0.1122	0.01	0.04	0.80
Gender
Female	0.64	0.85	0.45	0.35	0.91	0.70
Male (reference group)
HIV Status
Yes	1.95	0.68	0.005	1.68	0.79	0.03
No (reference group)
Education			0.71^a			0.80^a
Secondary and post-secondary education	0.34	1.06	0.75	−0.22	1.15	0.85
Elementary education	−0.31	0.96	0.75	−0.58	0.99	0.56
No school (reference group)
Monthly household income (GHS)^b			0.07^a			0.15^a
Greater than 300 per month	2.74	1.28	0.03	2.54	1.33	0.06
50–300 per month	1.48	1.19	0.21	1.51	1.21	0.21
Less than 50 per month (reference group)
Distance from clinic/hospital
More than 20 kilometers	1.26	0.70	0.07	0.92	0.72	0.20
0–20 kilometers (reference group)

^aType 3 overall p value for categorical variable with more than 2 levels.

^bGhana Cedis (GHS): 1 GHS = 0.31 USD.

Table 6. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression analysis for caregivers scores on HIV illness perception questionnaire.

	Unadjusted			Adjusted
Characteristics	Estimates	Standard error	P value	Estimates	Standard error	P value
Age	0.02	0.06	0.70	0.05	0.08	0.48
Gender
Female	0.64	1.67	0.70	1.46	1.84	0.43
Male (reference group)
HIV status
Yes	−0.55	1.37	0.69	−0.66	1.59	0.68
No (reference group)
Education			0.86^a			0.98^a
Secondary and post-secondary education	0.54	2.08	0.80	0.40	2.33	0.86
Elementary education	−0.32	1.89	0.87	0.17	2.02	0.93
No school (reference group)
Monthly household income (GHS)^b			0.31^a			0.36^a
Greater than 300 per month	3.17	2.55	0.21	3.43	2.70	0.20
50–300 per month	1.15	2.36	0.63	1.59	2.45	0.52
Less than 50 per month (reference group)
Distance from clinic/hospital
More than 20 kilometers	1.93	1.37	0.16	1.88	1.45	0.20
0–20 kilometers (reference group)

^aType 3 overall p value for categorical variable with more than 2 levels.

^bGhana Cedis (GHS): 1 GHS = 0.31 USD.