Dual Contraceptive Utilization and Associated Factors Among Reproductive-Age Women on Anti-Retroviral Therapy at Hospitals in Central Ethiopia

Yohannes Tilahun,¹ Elias Teferi Bala,² Gizachew Abdissa Bulto,³ Ephrem Yohannes Roga<sup>3

1</sup>Disease Prevention and Control Division, Addis Ababa Health Bureau, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; ²Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia; ³Department of Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia

Correspondence: Gizachew Abdissa Bulto Email gizachab@yahoo.com

Background: Ethiopia is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries with an increasingly risky sexual practice and mostly affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic. Dual protection is an important preventive approach which can prevent both unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the dual contraceptive utilization and associated factors among reproductive-age women on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) in central Ethiopia.
Methods: An-institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 311 women on ART at public hospitals of West Shewa Zone from June to September 2019. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. A pretested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to IBM SPSS statistical software version 25 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were computed. Odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval was computed to ascertain the association.
Results: The prevalence of dual contraceptive utilization among women on ART was 21.4% (95% CI: 16.8– 25.9). Age of respondents between 15 and 24 years [AOR=8.35, (95% CI: 3.12– 17.78)], living in urban [AOR=2.59, 95% CI: 1.15– 4.22], separated women [AOR=2.28, 95% CI (1.26– 5.04)], had post-diagnosis counselling on family planning [AOR=5.33, 95% CI: 1.52– 18.68], disclosed HIV status [AOR=5.98, 95% CI: 1.63– 21.93], freely discuss with their husband [AOR=4.22, 95% CI, 1.84– 12.36], have no fertility desire [AOR=2.46, (95% CI: 1.34– 6.44)] were significantly associated with dual contraceptive utilization.
Conclusion and Recommendation: The overall magnitude of dual contraceptive utilization among women on ART was found to be low. Factors like age, residence, marital status, post-diagnosis counselling, disclosure of HIV status, and free discussion with husband were significantly associated with dual contraceptive method utilization. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the range of strategies and tools available to married and single women’s for protecting themselves from being infected with other strains and pregnancy. The concerned stakeholders also should emphatically consider those identified factors for intervention.

Keywords: dual contraceptives, utilization, HIV, central Ethiopia