Assessing Retention Of Woman Enrolled In Prevention Of Mother To Child Transmission Of HIV Programme At The Municipal HospitalAt

ABSTRACT

Background: Pn". . Vtnlion ofmother-ID-child transmission ofHlV (PMTCn is delivered in stages

(or cascades) and high level of retention at each cascade step by mother and lalcrb ymother-infant

pairs is required to eliminate maternal transmission of HIV which occurs through pregnancy.

childbirth andbreastfeeding. Reasons for low rates of retention in Ghana are nOI well understood

though HIVsentinel sites situated across the country serve as good resourcefo rcollectingdatafor

generatingsuchknowlcdge.Theaimsofthisstudyweretodetermine retention rates at each stage

of tile PMTCT cascade and explore patient and provider- level factors affecting retention at the Ho

Municipal J-losp ilal

Metbods: Retrospective data was collected from fo ld ers and electronic record s of 69 women who

were enro lled into PMTCT from January 20 14 to December 2015. Data was enten::d into a PMTCT

Cascade Analysis Tool and retention rates at different stages of the cascade was calculated. In -

depth interviews were conducted for twelve mothers and seven carefully selected frontline

PMTCT care providers. Patient-level and provider-level fac tors were manually extracted and

codedfromtranscribl.'drtoofdedconversalion

FindingslRe!ult!: Twelve-month postpartum retention was 66. JOIo. The highest drop-ofT along the

cascade was found at the ' first at-risk ch ild visit' for which 20 out of52 babies were not brought

for early infant diagnosis (EID). Prov ider-level factors identified as detcnninants for retention

included coun selling support, assurance of anonymity. clinic location and supportive and

understanding team . Patient- level factors that emerged were desired qu al ity life.social supportand

acceptance, sligmaand partner innuences.

Conclu!ion: Retention in PMTCT at the Ho Municipal Hospital was lower compared to reviewed

literature from olher resource constraint locations. Good counselling support, assurance or

confidenliality. desired treatmenloutcomeand privacy of clinic location aresomeofth ereasons

shown 10 aJTectrelention allhissile