The Effectiveness of Nurse-Led PMTCT Health Education on Self-Stigma Reduction Among HIV-Positive Women in Mombasa County, Kenya

Abstract

BACKGROUND Stigma compromises the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS. There is a critical knowledge gap on how to combat self-stigma among HIV-positives. the study assessed the effectiveness of nurse-led PMTCT health education on self-stigma reduction among HIV-positive women attending PMTCT antenatal clinics in Mombasa County, Kenya. METHODOLOGY The study used a two-group, quasi-experimental research design. All pregnant HIV-positive women of reproductive age (18-49) who attended PMTCT prenatal clinics at the selected Mombasa County healthcare facilities were included in the study. A nurse-led health education program on PMTCT was provided at the intervention location but not at the control site. The mean difference in the proportion of mothers who reported self-stigma between the intervention and control groups was computed using a chi-square statistic. To assess the effectiveness of nurse-led PMTCT health education intervention, the difference in difference (DiD) was conducted. RESULT Chi-square statistics indicated that there were significantly (χ2=151.096, df=1, p<0.001) more HIV-positive women with low self-stigma in the intervention group compared to the control group at the end-line survey. Nurse-led health education on PMTCT reduced the proportion of self-stigma in HIV-positive women from 62.1% to 10.6%. It thus reduced the proportion of self-stigma in HIV-positive women significantly by 82.6%. CONCLUSION Nurse-led PMTCT health education should be integrated with other interventional strategies aimed at reducing self-stigma among HIV-positive women attending PMTCT antenatal clinics.