Anti-Retroviral drug and condom use among discordant couples in Western Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of Anti-Retroviral drugs and condom use among discordant couples in Western Kenya. HIV seropositive individuals in discordant partnerships remain a unique target group in the prevention of HIV transmission, as the HIV-negative partners are at a high risk of acquiring infection from their HIV-positive partners if they do not adhere to established measures in infection prevention and control. Specifically, this study aimed to determine the uptake of Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARVs) and condoms among discordant couples in HIV/AIDS support groups. This study followed a descriptive cross-sectional design in which 104 seropositive individuals in HIV discordant relationships were included. The study was conducted in Migori County, Kenya. Quantitative analysis was done using SPSS. From our findings, the proportion of male to female participants in the study was equal (52 [50%] each) 100 per cent of the participants were taking ARVs, and 81per cent of couples used condoms. All spouses in polygamous families and 77 per cent of those in monogamous families used condoms. All workers in skilled employment used condoms compared to 75 per cent of unskilled workers. In conclusion, despite the high alert on the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS among serodiscordant couples, not all couples use condoms to protect their negative partners. This increases the risk of transmission of the disease within this high-risk group. We recommend that prevention measures should be geared towards counselling discordant couples to curtail the further spread of the disease to non-infected partners in HIV-discordant relationships.