Examining engagement in care of women living with HIV in South India

Abstract

HIV seropositive adherence-challenged women, who reported being on ART for at least four months were interviewed. Data on healthcare history, anti-retroviral therapy, clinic visits, doctor communication, disclosure and fear of stigma were collected. Better engagement in care was significantly more likely among older women, ≥ 10 years of education, higher income, HIV status disclosure to family, with higher community stigma fears and fewer healthcare access barriers. To promote retention, women may be encouraged to consider disclosing their HIV serostatus to supportive household members. A variety of possible interventions to overcome the prevalent barriers to care are provided.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all participants of the study, the dedicated project field staff in Bangalore, India, and Ms Hadley R Burroughs for her sincere effort in editing and formatting of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by NIH/NIMH Grant #5R01 MH109310 (PI M.L.Ekstrand).