Contraceptive Prevalence and Pattern among HIV Positive Women in Port Harcourt, South-South Nigeria

ObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence rate and pattern of contraceptive use among HIV positive women in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.MethodsAnonymous self administered questionnaires were applied to HIV positive women receiving care at HIV clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital between September and November 2010.ResultsA total of 228 questionnaires were retrieved out of 250 distributed. The grouping age 29–34 years accounted for 47.8% of the respondents, 51.3% had secondary education, 55.5% were married while 43.4% were nulliparous. The mode of acquiring HIV was unknown in 60.1% and 34.2% of their partners were HIV positive. Majority (64.0%) of the patients did not use any form of contraception before diagnosis while 42.1% used male condoms after diagnosis. Contraceptive methods used were female condom (0.4%), oral contraceptive pills (16.2%), abstinence (14.5%) and rhythm method (1.8%). Only 6.1% used the dual method, which is the simultaneous use of two methods and one of which must be a condom. Contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) was 81.1%.ConclusionThough the overall use of contraception in HIV positive women in Port Harcourt is high, the dual method use which protects against pregnancy and transmission of HIV is low. Dual method is the recommended method for HIV positive women who do not intend to get pregnant. Therefore the use of dual method should be advocated.