Abstract

Beena E Thomas, Chandra Suresh, Sujatha V, Vijayalakshmi R, Basilea Watson and Soumya Swaminathan

In the era of accessible antiretroviral treatment where HIV becomes a chronic disease, disclosure of parental HIV status to children is fraught with challenges. This study seeks to understand if parents disclose their HIV status to their children, and gain insight into some factors that influence disclosure. This is a cross sectional descriptive study on 115 of 136 HIV positive patients attending the outpatient clinic of the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) situated in Chennai, South India. Disclosure was reported by twenty eight respondents (24%) of the respondents with 11(39%) who reported that it was done by them, the rest being unplanned or done by health providers. The most significant variables which influenced disclosure were age of the parents, (Adjusted OR = 14.7 C.I (3.2, 68), p-value: 0.001), divorced /widowed (Adjusted OR = 4.8, C.I (1.1, 22.1), p-value: 0.041) and having children ≥15 years (Adjusted OR = 3.1, C.I :( 1.1, 15.6), p-value: 0.043). It was also found that disclosure was more likely when both parents were positive. ( 2 =7.481,p<.05). The most repeated reasons for disclosure were to protect their children from risky behavior and to take care of them when ill. Findings point to low rates of disclosure to children among parents living with HIV and complexities around disclosure. Parents require disclosure support services and health care providers need to be sensitized to include these services in HIV intervention programs.