M F Chersich 1, S M Luchters, E Yard, J M Othigo, N Kley, M Temmerman
Affiliation
- 1International Center for Reproductive Health, Mombasa, Kenya. matthewf.chersich@icrhk.org
PMID: 17900585
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2007.06.053
Abstract
Objective: To assess the effects of HIV infection on morbidity and the needs of infected women for services in the first year postpartum.
Methods: A cross-sectional study with 500 women attending a child-health clinic in Mombasa, Kenya.
Results: Postpartum duration was a median of 3.3 months (interquartile range, 1.9-6.1 months). The 54 HIV-infected women had a lower income and less financial support than the uninfected women, and they were more likely to experience fever, dyspnea, and dysuria, and to have genital warts (odds ratio [OR], 9.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-35.6; P<0.001), candidiasis (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.2-6.8; P=0.012), and bacterial vaginosis (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.95-3.3; P=0.066). Six (nearly 15%) of the HIV-infected women had low- or high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and 21 (42%) had an unmet need for contraception. More than half of all women were anemic, and normocytic anemia was predominant among the HIV infected.
Conclusion: Compared with uninfected women, morbidity was increased for HIV-infected women during the year following delivery. This period could be used to offer these, and all-women, family planning services, cervical cancer screening, and treatment for anemia and reproductive tract infections.
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