Factors Associated with HIV Status Disclosure to Ones Steady Sexual Partner in PLHIV in Morocco
Résumé
The objective of the present study was to
determine the factors independently associated with disclosure
of seropositivity to one’s steady sexual partner in
people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are recipients of
services provided by Association de Lutte Contre le Sida, a
Moroccan community-based organization (CBO) working
on AIDS response. Between May and October 2011, 300
PLHIV were interviewed about their sociodemographic
and economic characteristics, their sexual life and disclosure
of their serostatus to their friends, family and to their
steady sexual partner. A weighted logistic regression was
used to study factors associated with serostatus disclosure
to one’s steady sexual partner. We restricted the analysis to
people who declared they had a steady sexual partner
(n = 124). Median age was 36 years old, 56 % were men
and 62 % declared that they had disclosed their serostatus
to their steady sexual partner. The following factors were
independently associated with disclosure: living with one’s
steady sexual partner [OR 95 % CI: 9.85 (2.86–33.98)],
having a higher living-standard index [2.06 (1.14–3.72)],
regularly discussing HIV with friends [6.54 (1.07–39.77)]
and CBO members [4.44 (1.27–15.53)], and having a
higher social exclusion score [1.24 (1.07–1.44)]. Unemployment
(as opposed to being a housewife) was negatively
associated with disclosure [0.12 (0.02–0.87)]. Despite the
potential positive effects for the prevention of HIV transmission
and for adherence to HIV treatment, many PLHIV
had not disclosed their serostatus to their steady sexual
partner. Some factors shown here to be significantly associated
with such disclosure will help in the development of
future support interventions.