Self–reported reasons for seeking HIV testing by people living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA) in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

ObjectiveTo assess the reasons for HIV testing among people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) that were receiving care/treatment in the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital(UITH), Ilorin.MethodsThe study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted on 300 people living with HIV and AIDS receiving care at the antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics of the hospital. All the patients who came to the clinic during the period of data collection and met the inclusion criteria were recruited into the study consecutively. Data were analyzed using the EPI-INFO 2005 software package.ResultsThe mean age of the respondents was 39 years (SD=9.32), ranging between 19 and 65 years. About two thirds (64.7%) were females, among which 62.7% were married. Slightly less than half (47.3%) of the respondents were not informed before they were tested for HIV while 11% did not receive post-test counselling. The main reason for HIV test was because client was sick and not responding to the treatment for other illnesses and during routine medical test when spouse tested positive.ConclusionsThe findings from this study reveal that the majority of respondents were tested for HIV/AIDS when they had protracted illness or lost their partners to AIDS. To achieve the WHO goal of universal access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support, there is an urgent need to rapidly scale up HCT services at all levels of the health care system, while pursuing innovative human right approaches to provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC).